Traditionally, when victims of CryptoRom scams attempt to cash in on their "profits", fraudsters will tell them they need to pay a 20 per cent tax on their funds before completing any withdrawals. The researchers also uncovered a new scammer tactic designed to extort additional money. We can now say that, at least in the case of pig butchering scams, this is, in fact, happening," said Sean Gallagher, principal threat researcher, Sophos. "Since OpenAI announced the release of ChatGPT, there has been broad speculation that cybercriminals may use the program for their own malicious activities. The victim became suspicious after he received a lengthy message that was clearly partly written by an AI chat tool using a large language model (LLM), the report said. The researchers first learned of CryptoRom scammers using the AI chat tool - most likely ChatGPT - when a conned victim reached out to the team.Īfter contacting the victim on Tandem, a language-sharing app that has also been used as a dating app, the scammer convinced the victim to move their conversation to WhatsApp. More information about these ransomware attacks is available in the article “ Clustering Attacker Behavior Reveals Hidden Patterns.Researchers have observed CryptoRom fraudsters refining their techniques, including adding a ChatGPT-like AI chat tool to their toolset to trick users into scams, a new report said on Monday.Īccording to the cybersecurity firm Sophos, scammers were able to sneak seven new fake cryptocurrency investment apps into the official Apple App and Google Play stores, upping the potential for victims. When protections are based on behaviors, it doesn’t matter who is attacking-Royal, Black Basta, or otherwise-potential victims will have the necessary security measures in place to block subsequent attacks that display some of the same distinct characteristics,” said Brandt. It also helps security providers create stronger protections for customers. Knowing highly specific attacker behavior helps managed detection and response teams react faster to active attacks. “While threat activity clusters can be a stepping stone to attribution, when researchers focus too much on the ‘who’ of an attack, then they can miss critical opportunities for strengthening defenses. This operation could have led Hive affiliates to seek new employment-perhaps with Royal and Black Basta-which would explain the similarities in the ensuing ransomware attacks.īecause of the similarities between these attacks, Sophos X-Ops began tracking all four ransomware incidents as a cluster of threat activity. Near the end of January this year, a large portion of Hive’s operation was disbanded following a sting operation by the FBI. This was followed by Royals’ attacks in February and March 2023 and, later, in March, Black Basta’s. The first attack involved Hive ransomware in January 2023. Sophos X-Ops succeeded in uncovering these connections following a three-month long investigation into four ransomware attacks. 7z archive named after the victim organization, and executing commands on the infected systems with the same batch scripts and files. The unique similarities include using the same specific usernames and passwords when the attackers took over systems on the targets, delivering the final payload in. The new insights we’ve gained about Royal’s work with affiliates and possible ties to other groups speak to the value of Sophos’ in-depth, forensic investigations,” said Andrew Brandt, principal researcher, Sophos. These highly specific, unique behaviors suggest that the Royal ransomware group is much more reliant on affiliates than previously thought. However, in these cases, the similarities we’re talking about are at a very granular level. “Because the ransomware-as-a-service model requires outside affiliates to carry out attacks, it’s not uncommon for there to be crossover in the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) between these different ransomware groups. Sophos is tracking and monitoring the attacks as a “cluster of threat activity” that defenders can use to speed up detection and response times. Despite Royal being a notoriously closed off group that doesn’t openly solicit affiliates from underground forums, granular similarities in the forensics of the attacks suggest all three groups are sharing either affiliates or highly specific technical details of their activities. Sophos, a global leader in innovating and delivering cybersecurity as a service, released new findings into the connections between the most prominent ransomware groups this past year, including Royal, in its report, “ Clustering Attacker Behavior Reveals Hidden Patterns.” Over the course of three months beginning in January 2023, Sophos X-Ops investigated four different ransomware attacks, one involving Hive, two by Royal, and one by Black Basta, and noticed distinct similarities between the attacks.
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