BlackBasta Ransomware Attack on Franz Carl Weber

BlackBasta targeted toy retailer Franz Carl Weber, claiming to have stolen over 700 GB of sensitive data, mainly comprising personal information of employees. The BlackBasta ransomware gang has listed Franz Carl Weber as its latest victim on the dark web, threatening to release the data unless a ransom is paid. Among the compromised information are documents from accounting, employee personal data, and files from the HR department.

The German drugstore chain Müller, the parent company of Franz Carl Weber, has confirmed the attack and stated that appropriate measures have been taken to address the situation, although the full extent of the breach is still being assessed. The malefactors released a selection of data as proof of the attack, showcasing photographs of passports, identity cards, and foreign identity documents belonging to employees of Franz Carl Weber. Additionally, salary statements, apprenticeship contracts, and family allowance applications were among the compromised documents.

Müller acknowledges the potential risks posed by the unauthorized disclosure of personal data and emphasizes that the matter is being taken very seriously, with law enforcement authorities and regulatory bodies being notified promptly.

About Franz Carl Weber

Franz Carl Weber is a designated specialist store that stocks a wide, carefully selected range of high-quality toys and leisure items. The German drugstore chain Müller, is the parent company of Franz Carl Weber.

The BlackBasta Ransomware Group

BlackBasta is a RaaS that emerged in early 2022 and is assessed by some researchers to be an offshoot of the disbanded Conti and REvil attack groups. The group routinely exfiltrates sensitive data from victims for additional extortion leverage. BlackBasta engages in highly targeted attacks and is assessed to only work with a limited group of highly vetted affiliate attackers.

BlackBasta has quickly became one of the most prolific attack groups in 2023 and was observed leveraging unique TTPs for ingress, lateral movement, data exfiltration data, and deployment of ransomware payloads. Ransom demands vary depending on the targeted organization with reports that they can be as high as $2 million dollars. It is estimated that BlackBasta exceeded $107 million in ransom revenue from more than 90 victims in less than two years.

BlackBasta continues to evolve their RaaS platform, with ransomware payloads that can infect systems running both Windows and Linux systems. BlackBasta is particularly adept at exploiting vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi running on enterprise servers. BlackBasta ransomware is written in C++, can target both Windows and Linux systems, encrypts data with ChaCha20, and then the encryption key is encrypted with RSA-4096 for rapid encryption of the targeted network.

In some cases, BlackBasta leverages malware strains like Qakbot and exploits such as PrintNightmare during the infection process. BlackBasta also favors abuse of insecure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) deployments, one of the leading infection vectors for ransomware.

BlackBasta typically targets manufacturing, transportation, construction and related services, telecommunications, the automotive sector, and healthcare providers. BlackBasta also employs a double extortion scheme and maintains an active leaks website where they post exfiltrated data if an organization declines to pay the ransom demand.