The notorious LockBit ransomware gang has managed to steal approximately $91 million from victims in the United States since 2020, establishing itself as one of the most successful ransomware threats ever encountered.
According to a joint advisory published by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the FBI, Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and cybersecurity authorities from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and New Zealand, the astonishing figure highlights the magnitude of the group’s criminal activities.
A Multitude of Victims
The advisory indicates that over the past three years, the LockBit gang has successfully targeted around 1,700 American organizations. Notably, State, Local, and Tribunal (SLTT) governments were the subjects of 16% of the attacks during the previous year, according to data from MS-ISAC. This implies that municipal governments, counties, educational institutions, and public service organizations were among the most sought-after entities.
According to a report, “LockBit was the most prevalent ransomware variant worldwide in 2022 and continues to thrive in 2023.”
However, LockBit did not solely focus on these organizations; the private sector, regardless of size or industry, also fell victim to their attacks. “Since January 2020, affiliates utilizing LockBit have targeted organizations of diverse sizes in various critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, food and agriculture, education, energy, government and emergency services, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation,” the report states.
LockBit, initially known as ABCD, emerged in 2019, gaining attention for appending the file extension to encrypted files. By 2020, it had grown in notoriety and reached version 2.0, which researchers from Unit 42, Palo Alto Networks’ cybersecurity division, identified as “the most impactful and widely deployed ransomware variant” observed in Q1 2022.
Although the confirmed number of victims stands at around 1,700, the group itself claims to have infiltrated over 12,000 organizations.
Source: BleepingComputer
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