NRA: No comment on Russian ransomware gang attack claims

[Terrell Byrd <terrell.byrd () riskbasedsecurity com>]

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/nra-no-comment-on-russian-ransomware-gang-attack-claims/


The Grief ransomware gang claims to have attacked the National Rifle
Association (NRA) and released stolen data as proof of the attack.

Today, the ransomware gang added the NRA as a new victim on their data leak
site while displaying screenshots of Excel spreadsheets containing US tax
information and investments amounts.

The threat actors also leaked a 2.7 MB archive titled 'National
Grants.zip,' that we have been told contains alleged NRA grant applications

Earlier this morning, BleepingComputer contacted the NRA multiple times,
including speaking to the NRA's Director of Communications Amy Hunter but
did not receive any answers regarding the alleged attack.

The NRA later published a statement saying they do not comment on physical
or electronic security of their organization.

"NRA does not discuss matters relating to its physical or electronic
security. However, the NRA takes extraordinary measures to protect
information regarding its members, donors, and operations – and is vigilant
in doing so.” - Andrew Arulanandam, managing dir., NRA Public Affairs.

Grief tied to Russian hacking group
The Grief ransomware gang is believed to be tied to a Russian hacking group
known as Evil Corp.

Evil Corp has been active since 2009 and has been involved in numerous
malicious cyber activities, including the distribution of the Dridex trojan
to steal online banking credentials and steal money.

The hacking group turned to ransomware in 2017, when they released
ransomware known as BitPaymer. BitPaymer later morphed into the
DoppelPaymer ransomware operation in 2019.

After years of attacking US interests, the US Department of Justice charged
members of the Evil Corp for stealing over $100 million and added the
hacking group to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanction list.

Soon after, the US Treasury later warned that ransomware negotiators might
face civil penalties for facilitating ransom payments to gangs on the
sanction list.

Since then, Evil Corp has been routinely releasing new ransomware strains
under different names to evade US sanctions. These ransomware families
include WastedLocker, Hades, Phoenix CryptoLocker, PayLoadBin, and, more
recently, the Macaw Locker.

However, their original ransomware, DoppelPaymer, ran for years under the
same name until May 2021, when they stopped listing new victims on their
data leak site.

One month later, the Grief ransomware gang emerged, with security
researchers believing to be a rebrand of DoppelPaymer based on code
similarities.

As Grief is linked to Evil Corp, it is likely that ransomware negotiators
will not facilitate ransom payments without the victim first getting
approval from the OFAC.

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