Cl0p Ransomware Group Targets North Carolina Central University

Cl0p ransomware group has claimed responsibility for an attack against North Carolina Central University. According to local news, "online classes are canceled and campus Wi-Fi is down, along with other online services." The school took down the online services "to contain the intrusion." For more than a century, NC Central has prepared students to transform communities. The institution made the commitment as the nation's first public liberal arts institution for African American students. We sustain it as a future-focused modern university.

CI0p: A Sophisticated RaaS Platform

CI0p is a RaaS platform first observed in 2019. CI0p has advanced anti-analysis capabilities and anti-virtual machine analysis to prevent investigations in an emulated environment like those commonly used by security tools. CI0p is increasingly using automation to exploit known vulnerabilities to infiltrate targets, as well as a SQL injection zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2023-34362) that installs a web shell – a rarity amongst ransomware operators.

Surge in Attacks and Ransom Demands

Attacks by CI0p surged in Q1 of 2023 as the gang leveraged patchable exploits for the GoAnywhere file transfer software to compromise more than 100 victims in a matter of weeks, although it is unknown how well they were able to monetize the attacks. CI0p is likely to be leveraging automation to identify exposed organizations who have not patched against known vulnerability, which is why we are seeing so many new victims. Ransom demands vary depending on the target and average around $3 million dollars but have been reported as to be as high as $20 million. Ransom amounts are likely to continue to grow as CI0p focuses more on the exfiltration of sensitive data.

Expanding Targets and Tactics

CI0p is one of just a handful of RaaS providers that have developed a Linux version, an indication that CI0p is likely actively recruiting new talent to help improve their platform and expand the scope of what and whom they can attack. CI0p’s Windows version was written in C++ and encrypts files with RC4 and the encryption keys with RSA 1024-bit. CI0p had previously almost exclusively hit targets in the healthcare sector but has significantly expanded targeting to include most any organization with vulnerable GoAnywhere installations. CI0p runs an expansive affiliate program and exfiltrates data to be leveraged in triple extortion schemes and has significantly expanded its primary target range beyond the healthcare sector. There are indications that CI0p may be shifting to more of a pure data extortion model, but most victims still suffer the ransomware payload at this point.