Small-scale ransomware attacks persist

Smaller-scale ransomware attacks continue to be prevalent and damaging, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. Adhubllka ransomware, which is linked to CryptoLocker ransomware and has been used to compromise small businesses and individuals since January 2020, was discovered by Netenrich researchers to have a new variant used in attacks this month. Further investigation into the new strain revealed other ransomware variants based on Adhubllka, many of which used identical ransom notes and similar modes of communication with their victims. "In the future, this ransomware may be rebranded with other names; or other groups may use it to launch their own ransomware campaigns. However, as long as the threat actor does not change their mode of communication, we will be able to trace all such cases back to the ADHUBLLKA family," said Netenrich Senior Threat Analyst Rakesh Krishnan. Aside from the emergence of a new Adhubllka ransomware strain, ransomware groups Dharma, Stop/Djvu, and Phobos, which have been imposing ransom demands below $1,700, were noted by a Chainalysis report to have significantly increased their operations.