money message attacks Micro-Star International
Incident Date:
April 6, 2023
Overview
Title
money message attacks Micro-Star International
Victim
Micro-Star International
Attacker
Money Message
Location
First Reported
April 6, 2023
Taiwanese PC Parts Maker MSI Targeted by Ransomware Gang
“Taiwanese PC parts maker MSI (Micro-Star International) has been listed on the extortion portal of a new ransomware gang known as "Money Message," which claims to have stolen source code from the company's network. MSI is a global hardware giant that makes motherboards, graphics cards, desktops, laptops, servers, industrial systems, PC peripherals, and infotainment products, with an annual revenue that surpasses $6.5 billion.
The threat actor has listed MSI on its data leak website and posted screenshots of what they claim to be the hardware vendor's CTMS and ERP databases and files containing software source code, private keys, and BIOS firmware. Money Message now threatens to publish all these allegedly stolen documents in about five days unless MSI meets its ransom payment demands.
BleepingComputer Highlights Ransomware Activity
BleepingComputer highlighted this novel ransomware group's activity in a report published over the weekend and described the gang's attack chain, hinting at the possibility of the threat actors having breached a well-known computer hardware vendor. According to chats seen by BleepingComputer at the time, the threat actors claimed to have stolen 1.5TB of data from MSI's systems, including source code and databases, and demanded a ransom payment of $4,000,000.
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.