When we tell you that you shouldn’t trust cybercriminals! An affiliate of the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware gang accused the latter, on a cybercriminal forum, of scamming him. The affiliate claims to be behind the attack on Change HealthCare, a hack that allegedly resulted in the payment of a mega-ransom of $22 million.
As reported on X by Dmitry Smilyanets, one of Recorded Future’s security experts, a crypto address linked to cybercriminals39964786indeed recorded a transaction of 350 bitcoin.
False entry
But when the affiliate tried to log in to the ransomware administration panel in early March, he realized his account was suspended. An interruption of the cybercriminal franchise justified by ALPH/BlackCat by an action by the FBI, their site then displaying a input page judicial.
Certainly, the American Department of Justice had announced in December 2023 an operation against these cybercriminals, the second most prolific franchise of the moment, with the publication of a decryptor accessible to more than 500 victims. But this operation has obviously not been repeated.
On the contrary, believe some cybersecurity experts, from a ransomware gang exit scam. Carried out at the most profitable time, after payment of a mega-ransom. The latter is not a record, but it is still one of the largest transactions observed in a ransomware attack.
Ransom close to records
In May 2021, an American insurance giant, CNA Financial, paid a record ransom of $40 million. Colonial Pipeline, the fuel supplier to the American East Coast, also announced at the same time that it had paid a ransom of $4.4 million – but half was later recovered by American justice.
Change Healthcare is a crucial supplier to the US healthcare industry, providing data and billing systems. Assisted by Mandiant and Palo Alto Network, the company did not confirm having paid such a ransom. But she was clearly under pressure. The collateral damage from this attack was estimated at more than a hundred million dollars per day, according to a cybersecurity company cited by CNN. However, how this figure was calculated was not specified.