A Russia-linked gang threatened to reveal “juicy banking information” it claimed to have stolen from the Federal Reserve if its demands were not met.
LockBit announced on Monday that it had rescued 33 terabytes of central bank data, giving US officials until Tuesday at 4:27 p.m. ET to pay an undisclosed amount.
While the cybercriminals made good on their promise by uploading financial information to the dark web, they appeared to only include links to a Federal Reserve press link from mid-June and others led to Evolve Bank and Trust data from a previous attack.
Some experts have speculated that this was simply an attempt by LockBit to improve its standing in the hacking community and attract attention.
LockBit announced on Monday that it had rescued 33 terabytes of central bank data, giving US officials until Tuesday at 4:27 p.m. ET to pay an undisclosed amount.
David Hatter, business growth director at InTrust IT, told DailyMail.com: ‘Despite previous high-profile attacks, LockBit’s power appears to have been seriously diminished and its reputation damaged after a major international police operation called Cronos will take over your ransomware infrastructure. ‘
DailyMail.com has contacted the Federal Reserve for comment.
LockBit revealed that the central bank had become its latest victim in a statement on the dark web with a countdown until it releases the allegedly stolen data.
“Federal banking is the term for how the United States Federal Reserve distributes its money,” the announcement reads.
The Reserve operates twelve banking districts throughout the country that oversee the distribution of money within their respective districts.
“The twelve cities that host the Reserve Banks are Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Atlanta, Dallas, Saint Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City and San Francisco.”
’33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing American banking secrets. You better hire another negotiator within 48 hours and fire this clinical idiot who values American banking secrecy at $50,000.
In comparison, 6.5 million documents can be stored in one terabyte.
At 4:27 p.m. ET, it emerged that LockBit had uploaded 21 links to the dark web, but cybersecurity experts who viewed the data noted that “there is still no trace of ‘secret’ files, but analysis is ongoing.” .
At 4:27 pm ET, it emerged that LockBit had uploaded 21 links to the dark web.
HackManac, a Dubi-based company that analyzes cyberattacks and offers consulting services, posted on cease and desist order against Evolve Bancorp and its subsidiary, Evolve Bank & Trust, for deficiencies in risk management and AML compliance.’
The press release was from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announcing actions against Evolve.
“Examinations conducted in 2023 found that Evolve engaged in unsafe and unsound banking practices by not having an effective risk management framework for those partnerships,” the statement read.
“In addition, Evolve did not maintain an effective risk management program or sufficient controls to comply with anti-money laundering laws and laws protecting consumers.”
All other links on the site lead to directories containing data belonging to Evolve.
