DOJ Launches Task Force to Battle Ransomware Threat Twitter Get Permission
The Justice Department is creating a task force to tackle the growing threat of ransomware and related extortion schemes targeting school districts, hospitals and others, according to an internal department memo that began circulating this week.
The newly established Ransomware and Digital Extortion Task Force will include DOJ officials as well as representatives from the FBI and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.
The task force will target the ransomware criminal ecosystem as a whole, which means prosecuting those behind the attacks as well as those who launder money that s extorted, the memo states.
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An example of an Egregor ransomware note used during a previous attack (Source: Digital Shadows)
The FBI issued a warning this week over the growing threat from the operators behind the Egregor ransomware variant and other cybercriminal gangs affiliated with the group.
The alert notes that, since September, the Egregor gang and its affiliates claim to have compromised approximately 150 corporate networks in the U.S. and other countries. In some cases, the extortion demands have reached $4 million, according to a previous report by cybersecurity firm Group-IB.
In addition to acting on its own, Egregor has affiliated cybercriminals that carry out their own attacks and receive a percentage of the ransom if the money is paid by the victim. This makes defending and mitigating against these types of attacks difficult.
An example of an Egregor ransomware note used during a previous attack (Source: Digital Shadows)
The FBI issued a warning this week over the growing threat from the operators behind the Egregor ransomware variant and other cybercriminal gangs affiliated with the group.
The alert notes that, since September, the Egregor gang and its affiliates claim to have compromised approximately 150 corporate networks in the U.S. and other countries. In some cases, the extortion demands have reached $4 million, according to a previous report by cybersecurity firm Group-IB.
In addition to acting on its own, Egregor has affiliated cybercriminals that carry out their own attacks and receive a percentage of the ransom if the money is paid by the victim. This makes defending and mitigating against these types of attacks difficult.