ASVEL Basket, a prominent French basketball team owned by former NBA star Tony Parker, has been targeted by a ransomware cartel known as NoEscape. The attackers have claimed to have stolen sensitive data from the organization, which they posted on their dark web blog.
Furthermore, this data includes player passports and IDs, financial and tax records, non-disclosure agreements, player scouting contracts, and other confidential information. ASVEL Basket competes in the Euroleague, one of Europe’s premier basketball tournaments, and boasts a roster of notable players. NoEscape ransomware has previously targeted multiple organizations and is believed to be the successor to the Avaddon ransomware cartel.
Additionally, this incident underscores the growing threat of ransomware attacks in the sports industry and raises concerns about the security of sensitive information related to the basketball team and its players.
As part of the Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, NoEscape ransomware operates by selling its ransomware to various operators, taking a percentage of their earnings. It is estimated that NoEscape has targeted 54 organizations since its emergence in May 2023, with ransom demands ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to as much as $10 million. The attackers have demonstrated their capability to infiltrate and compromise organizations, posing significant challenges for cybersecurity and data protection.
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