Ankura CTIX FLASH Update - October 3, 2023

Malware Activity

New Private Industry Notification by the FBI Details Recent Cyber Trends Regarding Ransomware Attacks and Data Destruction Tactics

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a Private Industry Notification on September 27, 2023, detailing the emerging trends of "multiple ransomware attacks on the same victim in close date proximity and new data destruction tactics in ransomware attacks." The FBI specified that as of July 2023, the agency observed threat actors deploying two (2) different ransomware variants in various combinations from the following list: AvosLocker, Diamond, Hive, Karakurt, LockBit, Quantum, and Royal. This tactic is said to have resulted in data encryption, exfiltration, and financial loss from ransom payments as well as heightened harm to the victim organization if a second ransomware attack occurs shortly after, as the organization would not have time to effectively prepare. In response to this trend,