Members of the notorious ransomware group Avaddon have released decryption keys amid reports that the gang is shutting down.
The news comes just weeks after Avaddon targeted one of the Asian business units of French insurance group AXA, impacting its IT operations and stealing 3TB of data.
However, the hacking group seems to be ready to withdraw from the world of cyber crime, having emailed BleepingComputer 2,934 decryption keys, with each key corresponding to a single victim. The legitimacy of the decryptor was confirmed by security specialists from Emsisoft, which also published a freely accessible version on the software its website, alongside a detailed guide for the victims.
Avaddon's decision to release the decryptor was interpreted as a sign that the ransomware gang was finally suspending its operations. Emsisoft threat analyst Brett Callow had a simple message for the now-retired hackers: "Good riddance."
"Avaddon's victims were many and varied, including AXA, Dade City, Valley National Bank, Presque Isle Police Department, Labor NSW, and the National AIDS Control Council of Kenya," he told IT Pro.
Avaddon is the latest hacking group to have reportedly suspended operations, following similar announcements from the Colonial Pipeline hackers DarkSide and Maze, whose victims included Canon, Xerox, VT San Antonio Aerospace, MaxLinear, and Cognizant.
In a press release obtained by cyber security expert Graham Cluley, members of the Maze collective, which was one of the two most frequentently used ransomware strains of 2020, announced that "the Project is closed",
RELATED RESOURCE
Four ransomware resiliency challenges you can combat with confidence
The benefits of a multi-layered security solution
However, despite this, ransomware attacks are still on the rise, with Egregor ransomware said to be filling the gap. In February, the strain was ranked in the top 10 for detected infections despite only being detected for the first time in September 2020.
The research, conducted by Trend Micro, discovered 127 new ransomware families in 2020 - 34% more than it found in 2019. Despite Egregor's success, 2017's WannaCry is still the most-detected malware family by far, with 220,166 detections infected. The next most popular was Locky, with just 15,816 cases.
Meanwhile, the hacking group Ryuk, which was found to be behind a third of all ransomware attacks in 2020, has not shown any signs of retiring anytime soon.
-
Volkswagen confirms security ‘incident’ amid ransomware breach claimsNews Volkswagen has confirmed a security "incident" has occurred, but insists no IT systems have been compromised.
-
The number of ransomware groups rockets as new, smaller players emergeNews The good news is that the number of victims remains steady
-
Teens arrested over nursery chain Kido hacknews The ransom attack caused widespread shock when the hackers published children's personal data
-
NCA confirms arrest after airport cyber disruptionNews Disruption is easing across Europe following the ransomware incident
-
Cyber professionals are losing sleep over late night attacksNews Hackers are biding their time and launching attacks when businesses can’t respond
-
Prolific ransomware operator added to Europe’s Most Wanted list as US dangles $10 million rewardNews The US Department of Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of Volodymyr Viktorovych Tymoshchuk, an alleged ransomware criminal.
-
Jaguar Land Rover “did the right thing” shutting down systems to thwart cyber attackNews The attack on Jaguar Land Rover highlights the growing attractiveness of the automotive sector
-
Ransomware attack on IT supplier disrupts hundreds of Swedish municipalitiesNews The attack on IT systems supplier Miljödata has impacted public sector services across the country
