Conti ransomware group officially shuts down - but probably not for long

Date:
Fri, 20 May 2022 13:39:46 +0000

Description:
Its "war" against Costa Rica was just a publicity stunt, experts believe.

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One of the worlds most famous ransomware threat actors, Conti, is breaking up - however there is very little reason to celebrate.

As reported by cybersecurity researchers from Advanced Intel, the groups internal infrastructure, including Tor admin panes used for content
publishing and negotiations, has been shut down. Whats more, BleepingComputer found that other internal services (such as rocket chat servers) are being decommissioned, as well.

But this doesnt mean the people behind the name will drop the world of cybercrime altogether. Instead, theyll be partnering with other, smaller ransomware groups, creating a whole swathe of ransomware groups, all
reporting to a central figure.

Share your thoughts on Cybersecurity and get a free copy of the Hacker's Manual 2022 . Help us find how businesses are preparing for the post-Covid world and the implications of these activities on their cybersecurity plans. Enter your email at the end of this survey to get the bookazine, worth $10.99/10.99. At "war" with Costa Rica

Not only will they continue attacking businesses everywhere, but being broken up into semi-autonomous entities will make them more agile, and consequently
- a bigger threat.

Among the groups Contis members joined forces with, are HelloKitty, AvosLocker, Hive, BlackCat, BlackByte, and others, Advanced Intel claims. Whats more, new autonomous groups were built, whose key goals will be data exfiltration. Some of them are Karakurt, BlackByte, and the Bazarcall collective.

Conti is one of the worlds most well-known cybercrime groups. Its one of the first groups to publicly express its support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which didnt sit well with many of its partners and peers. Other ransomware groups and threat actors ended up publishing its source code and internal chats online. Read more

Microsoft wants to try and kill off ransomware for good

Conti ransomware group has internal chats leaked after siding with Russia

Costa Rica declares national emergency after Conti ransomware attacks

At the moment, Conti is engaged in a full-blown cyber-war with the government of Costa Rica , hitting 27 government institutions including municipalities, utilities, and the Ministry of Finance, in a recent attack.

However, researchers believe that the attack was a facade of live operation while it pivots towards smaller entities.

The only goal Conti had wanted to meet with this final attack was to use the platform as a tool of publicity, performing their own death and subsequent rebirth in the most plausible way it could have been conceived," Advanced Intels report states. Protect your computers from Conti ransomware with the best antivirus solutions right now

Via: BleepingComputer



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/conti-ransomware-group-officially-shuts-down-bu t-probably-not-for-long/


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