Lockbit attacks Trinkwasser Verband
Incident Date:
July 29, 2023
Overview
Title
Lockbit attacks Trinkwasser Verband
Victim
Trinkwasser Verband
Attacker
Lockbit
Location
First Reported
July 29, 2023
The LockBit Ransomware Gang's Attack on Trinkwasser Verband
The LockBit ransomware gang has attacked Trinkwasser Verband. Trinkwasser Verband is a water supply association responsible for distributing and managing drinking water. The association is crucial in providing clean and safe drinking water to German communities. Trinkwasser Verband is focused on ensuring residents have access to high-quality drinking water that meets health and safety standards.
LockBit posted Trinkwasser Verband to its data leak site on July 29th, threatening to publish all stolen data by August 3rd if the organization fails to pay the ransom. 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's Modus Operandi
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 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.
Ransom Demands and Technological Advances
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 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 Affiliate Program
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.
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