The ALPHV Ransomware Group, also known as Blackcat, has targeted a UK-based office space rental agency called North East BIC and claimed to have extracted over 300GB of confidential data. The hackers issued a three-day ultimatum, threatening to publicly release the stolen data if their demands were not met.
The attack utilized a SIM-swap attack, a method increasingly used by cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to victims’ accounts. The hackers posted samples of the stolen data, including personal and financial information, on their leak site and indicated that they possessed additional commercial confidential data from the breach.
North East BIC, a non-profit social enterprise, offers business scaling support in Sunderland, UK, and has recently received recognition for its support to the armed forces community. The ALPHV ransomware group has targeted several organizations in the past, with incidents claimed by Blackcat becoming more prominent on the dark web.
Their recent attack on North East BIC involved the extraction of sensitive information, including employee data, financial reports, and client documents. The group’s sophisticated tactics, such as utilizing a Python crawler to synchronize leaked data, demonstrate the evolving nature of cyber threats and the need for robust cybersecurity measures.
