Rise of DarkSide: Ransomware Victims Have Been Surging
Compliance
euroinfosec) • May 12, 2021
Count of known DarkSide victims from August 2020 to April 2021 (Sources: Mandiant, Sophos)
For anyone wondering how a Russian-speaking, ransomware-wielding crime syndicate was able to disrupt a major U.S. fuel pipeline, a more pertinent question might be: Why didn’t it happen sooner?
The DarkSide operation first appeared in August 2020 with a clear MO: To take down big targets in pursuit of massive ransom payoffs. Information security experts call this strategy big game hunting.
Unless something is done to disrupt this criminal business model, what seems audacious today risks becoming even more commonplace tomorrow.