The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) this week published a joint advisory to warn organizations of an increased threat posed by the BlackMatter ransomware gang.
Active since July 2021, BlackMatter is believed to be the successor of DarkSide, a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) that shut down operations in May 2021. DarkSide was responsible for multiple high-profile ransomware attacks.
According to the joint advisory, the BlackMatter ransomware has already targeted multiple critical infrastructure entities in the United States, including two organizations in the food and agriculture sector.
In a typical BlackMatter attack, the ransomware operators employ compromised credentials and abuse the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and Server Message Block (SMB) protocol to access an organization’s Active Directory (AD) and compromise all hosts and shared drives on the network.
“BlackMatter actors use a separate encryption binary for Linux-based machines and routinely encrypt ESXi virtual machines. Rather than encrypting backup systems, BlackMatter actors wipe or reformat backup data stores and appliances,” the agencies said.
Legitimate tools and attacker-created accounts are abused for remote, persistent access to the compromised environment, and the threat actors also attempt to steal victim’s data to use for extortion.
To mitigate the threat posed by BlackMatter and other ransomware families, organizations of all types are advised to implement detection signatures, use strong passwords on all accounts, implement multi-factor authentication, keep systems updated, restrict user access to resources, and use firewalls and network segmentation.
The agencies said network admins should also keep all data backed up offline and make sure that backups are encrypted, and implement tools to detect abnormal activity within their environments, in addition to implementing a ransomware response plan.
Related: Nations Vow to Combat Ransomware at US-Led Summit
Related: Understanding the Cryptocurrency-Ransomware Connection

More from Ionut Arghire
- Ransomware Gang Publishes Data Allegedly Stolen From Maritime Firm Royal Dirkzwager
- Zoom Paid Out $3.9 Million in Bug Bounties in 2022
- Malicious NuGet Packages Used to Target .NET Developers
- Google Pixel Vulnerability Allows Recovery of Cropped Screenshots
- Millions Stolen in Hack at Cryptocurrency ATM Manufacturer General Bytes
- NBA Notifying Individuals of Data Breach at Mailing Services Provider
- Adobe Acrobat Sign Abused to Distribute Malware
- Latitude Financial Services Data Breach Impacts 300,000 Customers
Latest News
- Google Suspends Chinese Shopping App Amid Security Concerns
- Verosint Launches Account Fraud Detection and Prevention Platform
- Ransomware Gang Publishes Data Allegedly Stolen From Maritime Firm Royal Dirkzwager
- Zoom Paid Out $3.9 Million in Bug Bounties in 2022
- Oleria Scores $8M Seed Funding for ID Authentication Technology
- Exploitation of 55 Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Came to Light in 2022: Mandiant
- News Analysis: UK Commits $3 Billion to Support National Quantum Strategy
- Malicious NuGet Packages Used to Target .NET Developers
