The Five Families, a recently formed hacktivist collective, has disclosed its cyber attack on Alpha Automation and Robotics Ltd., a Brazilian automation company. Allegedly, the hackers successfully breached the company’s website and managed to exfiltrate approximately 230GB of sensitive data.
While the attack remains unconfirmed by the company, the collective claimed responsibility for the cyber attack on Alpha Automation. The hackers utilized the stolen company data from its cloud storage, encrypting the server responsible for managing the company’s storage system.
Following the breach, the Five Families placed their session ID on their dark web portal to initiate negotiations and prevent the public release of the exfiltrated data from the Alpha Automation ransomware attack. The collective also extended invitations to potential buyers of the data in case the company chose not to pay a ransom. The Five Families consists of various hacker groups, hacktivists, and a dark web forum called Blackforums. Their collaboration allows for streamlined cyberattacks, leveraging the available tools and resources to market their actions on platforms like Blackforums.
Although the exact motive for targeting Alpha Automation remains unclear, the Five Families claim to be hacktivists, often launching cyber attacks on websites that they deem involved in social injustice.
Despite the collective’s claim to be centered around hacktivism, their intentions remain ambiguous, and their future targets and motives are yet to be revealed. This incident sheds light on the increasingly complex landscape of cyber threats and hacktivist activities on the dark web.
