Cyber attacks are on the rise, with many exchanges and protocols having already lost millions of dollars already. Many of the attacks have been conducted on protocols backed by BSC (Binance Smart Chain), with the more recent ones being centered around Polygon as well. In some cases, the attacks were so severe that they had effectively caused shutdowns on a nationwide scale, as was the case with Colonial Pipeline when attackers had crippled its systems.
Now, Kaseya (a software company) is the latest victim, with the ransomware gang known as REvil taking claim for conducting the attack. This gang has also been primarily responsible for crippling thousands of different companies in the past, and it has now demanded a whopping $70 million in ransom, all to be paid in Bitcoin (BTC).
$70 million demanded in exchange for a universal decryptor
The aforementioned gang is now demanding to be paid Bitcoin cumulatively worth $70 million. If the payment is made, the gang shall supposedly release the code for the universal decryptor, through which the millions of systems that have been infected as a result of the coordinated attack can resume normal operations. This ransom amount is the largest to date, breaking all previous records when it comes to crypto-related ransom demands,
Right as millions of people were celebrating the United States’ Independence Day, numerous individuals’ joy quickly turned to sorrow and panic as countless businesses were adversely affected thanks to the attack. The ransomware was not just limited to the U.S either, as many systems across different countries were also reportedly affected. It is highly unfortunate that certain people would stoop to this level, as the supply chain attack on Kaseya is just the latest of its kind on a growing list of victims.
REvil was able to successfully infect numerous VSA servers following the exploitation of a crucial vulnerability in the system. These servers would normally be utilized for the purposes of managing computers remotely.
The attacks keep coming
At first, the gang had demanded to paid in Monero worth $45,000, but this was quickly altered to the abovementioned $70 million in BTC.
Eric Swalwell, a U.S lawmaker of the Democratic Party, has urged Congress to step up and increase efforts to prevent such attacks, especially after another group known as DarkSide had also conducted a similar attack fairly recently with reference to the Colonial Pipeline incident. REvil had additionally hijacked JBS too recently, with the meat supplier having to pay $11 million to the gang before normal operations could be continued.
The FBI, who had also played a vital role in recovering most of the funds that had been stolen in the Colonial Pipeline attack, shall be working closely alongside Kaseya to look into REvil and hopefully prevent the software company from having to pay the ransom.