Lockbit 3.0 attacks Ridgeview Industries

Incident Date:

July 25, 2023

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Overview

Title

Lockbit 3.0 attacks Ridgeview Industries

Victim

Ridgeview Industries

Attacker

Lockbit

Location

Walker, USA

Michigan, USA

First Reported

July 25, 2023

The Lockbit Ransomware Gang's Attack on Ridgeview Industries

The Lockbit ransomware gang has attacked Ridgeview Industries. Ridgeview Industries is a well-established company with a significant presence in the manufacturing and metal fabrication industry. Over the years, the company has earned recognition for its expertise and dedication to producing high-quality products for various sectors. Ridgeview Industries specializes in metal fabrication and offers diverse services, including custom metalwork, welding, and assembly. Their capabilities allow them to cater to the specific needs of different industries, such as automotive, aerospace, construction, and more.

Threat of Data Leak

Lockbit 3.0 posted Ridgeview Industries to its data leak site on July 25th, threatening to publish all stolen data by August 13th if the organization fails to comply. LockBit is a RaaS that has been active since 2019 and is enabled with security tool evasion capabilities and an extremely fast encryption speed. LockBit is noted for using a triple extortion model where the victim may be asked to purchase their sensitive information in addition to paying the ransom demand for decrypting systems. LockBit employs publicly available file-sharing services and a custom tool dubbed Stealbit for data exfiltration.

LockBit's Dominance and Evolution

LockBit was by far the most active attack group in 2022 and continued to be one of the top attack groups in Q1 of 2023, despite being bested in sheer volume by the Cl0p ransomware gang who surged in Q1. LockBit demanded ransoms in excess of $50 million in 2022. The group has continued to improve its RaaS platform and introduced LockBit 3.0 in June of 2022. The latest version incorporates advanced anti-analysis features and is a threat to both Windows and Linux systems. LockBit 3.0 is modular and configured with multiple execution options that direct the behavior of the ransomware on the affected systems.

LockBit employs a custom Salsa20 algorithm to encrypt files. LockBit takes advantage of remote desktop protocol (RDP) exploitation for most infections and spreads on the network by way of Group Policy Objects and PsExec using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.

Targeting and Extortion Techniques

LockBit tends to target larger enterprises across any industry vertical with the ability to pay high ransom demands but also tends to favor Healthcare targets. LockBit is a well-run affiliate program and has an excellent reputation amongst the affiliate (attacker) community for the platform's maturity and for offering high payouts of as much as 75% of the attack proceeds. LockBit is known to employ multiple extortion techniques, including data exfiltration, to compel payment.

Recent Ransomware Attacks

The Recent Ransomware Attacks (RRA) site acts as a watchtower, providing you with near real-time ransomware tracking of attacks, groups and their victims. Given threat actors’ overarching, lucrative success so far, ransomware attacks have become the most ubiquitous, and financially and informationally impactful cyber threat to businesses and organizations today.

The site’s data is generated based on hosting choices of real-world threat actors, and a handful of other trackers. While sanitization efforts have been taken, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy of the data. Attack updates will be made as source data is reported by reputable sources. By viewing, accessing, or using RRA you acknowledge you are doing so at your own risk.