Tag Archives: Ransomware

Recently digital media giant Shutterfly was hit by a major ransomware attack.

The attack disrupted broad swaths of the company’s services including those offered under their GrooveBook, BorrowLenses, and Lifetouch brands.

According to a report received by BleepingComputer, Shutterfly was targeted by the Conti gang. That group was able to encrypt more than four thousand of the company’s devices and 120 VMware and ESXi servers.

Like so many ransomware attacks in recent months the Conti gang did not start encrypting files immediately upon breaching the Shutterfly network.  Instead they lurked for a time while quietly exfiltrating files to a server they control.

The Conti gang has created a private Shutterfly data leak page that contains screenshots of the data the group allegedly stole prior to launching the encryption phase of their attack.  The purpose is to use the stolen files as leverage to prompt the company to pay the ransom demanded. The ransom in this case is reportedly in the millions of dollars.

Based on the screenshots on the data leak page it appears that the Conti gang made off with legal agreements, merchant account info, and a wide range of login credentials for corporate services.

The company has released a brief statement about the matter that reads as follows:

“Shutterfly, LLC recently experienced a ransomware attack on parts of our network. This incident has not impacted our Shutterfly.com, Snapfish, TinyPrints or Spoonflower sites. However, portions of our Lifetouch and BorrowLenses business, Groovebook, manufacturing and some corporate systems have been experiencing interruptions. We engaged third-party cybersecurity experts, informed law enforcement, and have been working around the clock to address the incident.

As part of our ongoing investigation, we are also assessing the full scope of any data that may have been affected. We do not store credit card, financial account information or the Social Security numbers of our Shutterfly.com, Snapfish, Lifetouch, TinyPrints, BorrowLenses, or Spoonflower customers, and so none of that information was impacted in this incident. However, understanding the nature of the data that may have been affected is a key priority and that investigation is ongoing. We will continue to provide updates as appropriate.”

Based on the above there’s little for users of those services to do at present. Out of an abundance of caution if you do use the impacted services you will probably want to change your password right away.

There’s a new strain of ransomware to be concerned about in the form of AvosLocker.

This is from security firm Sophos who warns that the new strain of human-operated ransomware is one to watch.

AvosLocker burst onto the scene over the summer of this year (2021). Having enjoyed some success with their product the gang behind the code is now on the hunt for partners in a bid to fill the gap left by REvil’s departure.

One of the key features of the malware’s design is the fact that it leverages the AnyDesk remote IT admin tool while running it in Windows Safe mode. We’ve seen malware that leverages Windows Safe Mode. Safe Mode loads with a minimal set of drivers and it is less well-protected but it isn’t exactly a common tactic.

AnyDesk is of course a perfectly legitimate tool used by thousands of professionals all over the world every day.  Here however it is being put to nefarious use and by combining it with running in Safe Mode and it allows the hackers to deal serious damage to their targets.

Peter Mackenzie is the Director of Incident Response at Sophos. Mackenzie says the group behind this new strain relies on simple but very clever tactics and methodologies to get the job done. So far, they’ve been amazingly successful.

The company had this to say about the new strain:

“Ransomware, especially when it has been hand-delivered (as has been the case in these Avos Locker instances), is a tricky problem to solve because one needs to deal not only with the ransomware itself, but with any mechanisms the threat actors have set up as a back door into the targeted network. No alert should be treated as “low priority” in these circumstances, no matter how benign it might seem.”

Wise words indeed.  Stay alert out there.

Vestas Wind Systems is one of the leaders in wind turbine manufacturing in North America with 40,000 MW currently installed and another 36,000 MW under service in both the US and Canada.

Recently the company published a breach notification indicating that they had been the subject of a successful cyber attack which occurred on Friday, November 19^th.

This forced them to shut down broad swaths of their network infrastructure to keep the attack from spreading. Although Vestas did not specify the exact nature of the attack based on their description it seems likely that the company fell victim to a ransomware attack.

Unfortunately this incident is almost certain to have serious downstream impacts. The company was already struggling with supply chain issues and the shutdown forced them to delay production. That is going to delay the completion of many of the projects Vestas has in the pipeline which will have further impacts as well. Although these are difficult to predict with any accuracy.

According to the latest information provided by the company both the issue itself and the investigation into it are ongoing and the company does not yet have a firm timeline for recovery. Vestas also confirmed that some of the company’s data had been compromised and exfiltrated but did not provide any details as to the specifics of that information.

There have been a number of attacks on critical infrastructure concerns as gangs of cybercriminals seek ever larger payouts. Given that the Vestas attack is very much in line with attacks earlier this year on Colonial Pipeline, Irelands Health Service Executive, and meat processing giant JBS.

If you do business with the company just be aware that their operations have been impacted and that the issue is ongoing so there are almost certain to be delays. Let us hope Vestas is able to resolve the matter quickly.