Play attacks Algotech

Incident Date:

June 28, 2023

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Overview

Title

Play attacks Algotech

Victim

Algotech

Attacker

Play

Location

Prague, Czech Republic

, Czech Republic

First Reported

June 28, 2023

The Play Ransomware Gang's Attack on Algotech

The Play ransomware gang has attacked Algotech. Algotech is an IT services provider headquartered in Prague, Czechia. It was founded in 1997 under the name Tservis97. Play posted Algotech to its data leak site on June 27th but has not provided any further details.

Background on Play Ransomware

Play ransomware (aka PlayCrypt) is a newer ransomware group that emerged in the summer of 2022 with high-profile attacks on the City of Oakland, Argentina's Judiciary, and German hotel chain H-Hotels. Play has similarities to Hive ransomware and is known to leverage tools like Cobalt Strike for post-compromise lateral movement and SystemBC RAT for persistence, as well as Mimikatz and living-off-the-land binaries (LOLBins) techniques. Play continued to increase attacks through the end of 2022 and into 2023.

Ransom Demands and Consequences

There is little information on how much Play demands for a ransom, but they have made good on their threats to leak the data of those who refuse payment.

Technical Tactics and Exploits

Play is an evolving RaaS platform known to exploit a known Exchange vulnerability (CVE-2022-41080 - patched by Microsoft in November of 2022) that allows them to leverage a second vulnerability with a ProxyNotShell exploit (CVE-2022-41082) even if a patch had been applied, which then allows the attackers to execute code on the systems remotely. Play leverages PowerTool to disable antivirus tools and security monitoring solutions.

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.