Along with tactics, the infamy of ransomware threats is increasing with every passing day. Now, the Ragnar Locker gang has come up with a new way to threaten victims and pressurize for ransom.
Talking about the tactic
- The group announced that it would leak the stolen data if victims contact law enforcement agencies.
- The threat has also been extended to victims who would go to professional negotiators and data recovery experts.
Why this matters
This dirty tactic puts extra strain on victims, while governments advise against paying ransoms. Paying ransoms doesn’t ensure a successful outcome. However, Ragnar Locker ransomware victims have been left with little to no option.
A sliver of sunshine
- Experts believe that this latest development is a loose threat to scare victims from doing the right thing.
- In addition to that, unless the actors are constantly monitoring all organizational communications, they won’t know whether law enforcement has been contacted or not. This is highly unlikely.
- Furthermore, just because the gang claims to have stolen data, doesn’t always indicate that data has been stolen. While this latest gambit might actually work on a handful of victims, most are expected to be safe from it.
The bottom line
Last year, Ragnar Locker was listed as one of the nine rising mid-level RaaS businesses. While the gang’s leak site exhibits its frequent activities, its dull extortion tactic is yet to make it a potent threat anytime soon. So, if you get hit by ransomware, the wise thing would be to report it to law enforcement and consult a negotiator before paying any ransom.
Publisher
/https://cyware-ent.s3.amazonaws.com/image_bank/1bb9_shutterstock_1212029062_1.jpg)
/https://cyware-ent.s3.amazonaws.com/image_bank/9738_shutterstock_1337166245.jpg)
