{"id":960,"date":"2021-02-06T11:32:41","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T11:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techcavit.com\/?p=960"},"modified":"2021-02-06T11:37:13","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T11:37:13","slug":"4-of-2020s-biggest-ransomware-strains-linked-to-majority-of-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techcavit.com\/4-of-2020s-biggest-ransomware-strains-linked-to-majority-of-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"4 of 2020\u2019s Biggest Ransomware Strains Linked to Majority of Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The four most prominent ransomware strains of 2020, Maze, Egregor, SunCrypt, and Doppelpaymer have connections that lead back to the same Ransom as a Service (RaaS) network and affiliates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a new Chainalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report, established connections between the four strains indicate that they are either being controlled or executed by the same group of people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere may be fewer cybercriminals responsible for ransom attacks that one would initially think, given the number of individual attacks, distinct strains and amount stolen from victims.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

RaaS is a business model by ransom developers who lease or sell different strains of their ransomware to affiliates who in turn use them to perform attacks on individuals or organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cybersecurity researchers identified strong links between the four strains, all of which were relatively active in 2020. They were used to attack different companies and institutions including Barnes &Noble, LG, Pemex and University Hospital New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll four use the RaaS model, meaning that affiliates carry out the ransom attacks themselves and pay a percentage of each victim payment back to the strain\u2019s creators and administrators.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, the strains have all been using the same double extortion method to blackmail their victims by threatening to withhold data and publish it online for extra intimidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware Strains are Interlinked<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Maze strain disappeared shortly after Egregor became active in Q4 2020. Its administrators later announced in November that its website was shutting down due to reduced activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome Cybersecurity researchers see this as evidence that Maze and Egregor are linked in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers further claimed that Maze operators either rebranded to Egregor or joined the latter\u2019s operators, with a row between the two groups resulting in a split.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaze and Egregor share much of the same code, the same ransom note, and have very similar victim payment sites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SunCrypt has also been linked severally to Maze, including through a privately circulated report from a threat intelligence firm saying that SunCrypt is a rebrand of a well-known ransomware strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A connection between Egragor and Doppelpaymer has also been established through a 78.8 BTC ransom payment for Egregor that was suspected to be a Doppelpaymer administrator wallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Useful Information for Law Enforcement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chainalysis concludes that Law enforcement agencies could benefit from this information to expand their crackdowns and even halt operations of well-known interlinked strains with a single takedown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvidence suggests that the ransom world is smaller than one may initially think, given the number of unique strains currently operating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ransomware attacks grew by 311% in 2020, with $350 million being paid by ransomware victims to attackers, despite crypto-related criminal activity falling by 83%.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The four most prominent ransomware strains of 2020, Maze, Egregor, SunCrypt, and Doppelpaymer have connections that lead back to the same Ransom as a Service (RaaS) network and affiliates. According to a new Chainalysis 2021 Crypto Crime Report, established connections between the four strains indicate that they are either being controlled or executed by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":961,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32,1385],"tags":[380,2226,1898],"yoast_head":"\n4 of 2020\u2019s Biggest Ransomware Strains Linked to Majority of Attacks - TechCavit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The four most prominent ransomware strains of 2020, Maze, Egregor, SunCrypt, and Doppelpaymer have connections that lead back to the same\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/techcavit.com\/4-of-2020s-biggest-ransomware-strains-linked-to-majority-of-attacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 of 2020\u2019s Biggest Ransomware Strains Linked to Majority of Attacks - 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