Cybercriminal Payback | BlackMatter Ransomware Criminals Lost Potential Millions in Payments After Code Mistake Found by Researchers

It seems like cybersecurity researchers have found a way to make ransomware criminals lose a lot of money. A large ransomware operation was prevented from making millions after certain cybersecurity researchers discovered a flaw in the ransomware that reportedly enabled encrypted files to be recovered without paying a ransom.

Emisoft Cybersecurity Researchers Spots Mistake

According to the story by ZDNet, cybersecurity researchers working at Emsisoft have reportedly detailed how they were able to secretly foil the cybercriminals that are behind the BlackMater ransomware. This would save a number of victims from having to pay a particular ransom.

After initially keeping what they were doing somewhere under wraps to avoid cybercriminals finding out, researchers have just disclosed how they were able to undermine BlackMatter. This is by providing decryption keys to victims of their own attacks, as per Emsisoft.

BlackMatter Incarnation

BlackMatter has been active, while the incarnation started in July. It has been longer than that due to information security analysts' consensus that BlackMatter is a rebranded version of the dreaded DarkSide ransomware. Russian-speaking hackers are attacking YouTube channels in order to livestream crypto scams.

DarkSide is notorious earlier this 2021 as the culprits behind the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. The supposed incident led to shortages of both gas and fuel all across the U.S.-North Eastern seaboard. The criminals were able to walk away with millions of dollars when the ransom for the Colonial was paid.

This massive hack resulted in a shortage of gas and fuel and insurance prices going up for tech companies as they scrambled to protect themselves against potential cybercriminal attacks. With cyberattacks becoming even more common, more and more people are looking to upgrade their cybersecurity.

DarkSide Re-Emerged as BlackMatter

Not all outages were caused by hacks. According to K.T., an outage wasn't a "DDoS" attack but rather a routing error. As of the moment, the matter is still under investigation in order to find out if a hack really did happen or if it was just a routing error as claimed by K.T.

DarkSide soon re-emerged as BlackMatter, and the said cybercriminals behind BlackMatter appear unshaken despite being on the radar of the United States government. They will then have launched a whole string of ransomware attacks against companies over in North America.

BlackMatter said that it would not go after the hospitals or other state institutions. However, this was untrue, and in addition to certain critical infrastructure in the form of a number of agricultural companies, the group has also been sticking to blood testing facilities, resulting in a huge problem. As of the moment, BlackMatter remains a top cybercriminal on the radar of multiple cybersecurity researchers.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.