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Luxembourg Energy Companies Targeted by BlackCat Ransomware Group

Luxembourg Energy Companies Targeted by BlackCat Ransomware Group
Two companies based in Luxembourg have fallen victim to ransomware attacks that began last week. These latest ransomware attacks are new in a string of incidents targeting European energy companies. 

What happened?
Encevo Group disclosed that its Luxembourg-based energy firm Creos was the target of a ransomware attack on the night of July 22.
  • As a result, the customer portal was down for both companies. The attackers also exfiltrated a certain amount of data from computer systems and made them inaccessible. 
  • Creos confirmed that its phone lines were down but the supply of electricity and gas was not affected by the latest ransomware attack.
  • The company has set up a separate website to keep its customers updated about the latest ransomware attack.

BlackCat takes the credit
While the investigations are ongoing, Emsisoft threat analysts Brett Callow has revealed that BlackCat aka Alphv ransomware group took credit for the latest ransomware attack. 
  • To claim the responsibility, the group has posted some stolen data on its leaked site.
  • The group allegedly stole 150GB of data including contracts, passports, bills, and emails. 

BlackCat ransomware is a rebrand of the prolific BlackMatter ransomware group that was first spotted in November 2021.

A rise in ransomware attacks in the EU
  • In a finding, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity revealed that around 623 ransomware attacks were reported in the EU between May 2021 and June 2022. 
  • Over 10TB of data was stolen per month during this period, while more than 60% of organizations had paid a ransom to protect their sensitive data.

A glance at BlackCat ransomware’s notoriety
An FBI alert released in April disclosed that at least 60 organizations were attacked by the BlackCat ransomware as of March. The group is known for launching ransomware attacks against victims using RUST. 

Conclusion 
The latest ransomware attack is another warning that organizations must be well-equipped to defend their critical infrastructures. Along with basic cybersecurity practices, organizations need to stay alter on new threats in the industry. For that, intelligent security solutions must be leveraged as it saves a lot of effort and time when there is an attack.
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