Feds: BianLian spoofed in corporate exec-targeted mail scam

Organizations have been warned by the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency regarding a new snail mail scam by threat actors purporting to be part of the BianLian ransomware gang aimed at extorting business executives, according to Cybernews.

Attacks involved the distribution of letters stamped with a "Time Sensitive Read Immediately" message and a return address of BianLian from Boston, Massachusetts, which alleged the compromise of corporate networks and thousands of sensitive files that would be exposed should the executives refuse to pay ransoms ranging from $250,000 to $500,000 within 10 days, said the FBI.

Such a malicious scheme should prompt organizations to not only strengthen their threat defense systems but also bolster employee education efforts, the FBI added.

Suspected Russia-based BianLian was noted by Cybernews' Ransomlooker tool to have compromised nearly 140 organizations during the past year, including Nippon Steel, the U.S. Better Business Bureau, and Affiliated Dermatologists.