The ransomware group LockBit advised officers with Fulton County, Ga. they might count on to see their inner paperwork printed on-line this morning except the county paid a ransom demand. LockBit eliminated Fulton County’s itemizing from its sufferer shaming web site this morning, claiming the county had paid. However county officers mentioned they didn’t pay, nor did anybody make cost on their behalf. Safety specialists say LockBit was probably bluffing and possibly misplaced many of the knowledge when the gang’s servers have been seized this month by U.S. and U.Okay. legislation enforcement.
The LockBit web site included a countdown timer till the promised launch of knowledge stolen from Fulton County, Ga. LockBit would later transfer this deadline as much as Feb. 29, 2024.
LockBit listed Fulton County as a sufferer on Feb. 13, saying that except it was paid a ransom the group would publish recordsdata stolen in a breach on the county final month. That assault disrupted county telephones, Web entry and even their courtroom system. LockBit leaked a small variety of the county’s recordsdata as a teaser, which appeared to incorporate delicate and sealed courtroom information in present and previous felony trials.
On Feb. 16, Fulton County’s entry — together with a countdown timer till the information could be printed — was faraway from the LockBit web site with out clarification. The chief of LockBit advised KrebsOnSecurity this was as a result of Fulton County officers had engaged in last-minute negotiations with the group.
However on Feb. 19, investigators with the FBI and the U.Okay.’s Nationwide Crime Company (NCA) took over LockBit’s on-line infrastructure, changing the group’s homepage with a seizure discover and hyperlinks to LockBit ransomware decryption instruments.
In a press briefing on Feb. 20, Fulton County Fee Chairman Robb Pitts advised reporters the county didn’t pay a ransom demand, noting that the board “couldn’t in good conscience use Fulton County taxpayer funds to make a cost.”
Three days later, LockBit reemerged with new domains on the darkish internet, and with Fulton County listed amongst a half-dozen different victims whose knowledge was about to be leaked in the event that they refused to pay. Because it does with all victims, LockBit assigned Fulton County a countdown timer, saying officers had till late within the night on March 1 till their knowledge was printed.
LockBit revised its deadline for Fulton County to Feb. 29.
LockBit quickly moved up the deadline to the morning of Feb. 29. As Fulton County’s LockBit timer was counting all the way down to zero this morning, its itemizing disappeared from LockBit’s website. LockBit’s chief and spokesperson, who goes by the deal with “LockBitSupp,” advised KrebsOnSecurity at this time that Fulton County’s knowledge disappeared from their website as a result of county officers paid a ransom.
“Fulton paid,” LockBitSupp mentioned. When requested for proof of cost, LockBitSupp claimed. “The proof is that we deleted their knowledge and didn’t publish it.”
However at a press convention at this time, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts mentioned the county doesn’t know why its knowledge was faraway from LockBit’s website.
“As I stand right here at 4:08 p.m., we aren’t conscious of any knowledge being launched at this time to this point,” Pitts mentioned. “That doesn’t imply the risk is over. They might launch no matter knowledge they’ve at any time. We now have no management over that. We now have not paid any ransom. Nor has any ransom been paid on our behalf.”
Brett Callow, a risk analyst with the safety agency Emsisoft, mentioned LockBit probably misplaced the entire sufferer knowledge it stole earlier than the FBI/NCA seizure, and that it has been making an attempt madly since then to avoid wasting face inside the cybercrime group.
“I feel it was a case of them making an attempt to persuade their associates that they have been nonetheless in good condition,” Callow mentioned of LockBit’s latest actions. “I strongly suspect this would be the finish of the LockBit model.”
Others have come to an analogous conclusion. The safety agency RedSense posted an evaluation to Twitter/X that after the takedown, LockBit printed a number of “new” sufferer profiles for firms that it had listed weeks earlier on its sufferer shaming website. These sufferer companies — a healthcare supplier and main securities lending platform — additionally have been unceremoniously faraway from LockBit’s new shaming web site, regardless of LockBit claiming their knowledge could be leaked.
“We’re 99% certain the remainder of their ‘new victims’ are additionally faux claims (previous knowledge for brand spanking new breaches),” RedSense posted. “So the very best factor for them to do could be to delete all different entries from their weblog and cease defrauding trustworthy individuals.”
Callow mentioned there actually have been loads of circumstances prior to now the place ransomware gangs exaggerated their plunder from a sufferer group. However this time feels totally different, he mentioned.
“It’s a bit uncommon,” Callow mentioned. “That is about making an attempt to nonetheless associates’ nerves, and saying, ‘All is properly, we weren’t as badly compromised as legislation enforcement recommended.’ However I feel you’d need to be a idiot to work with a company that has been so totally hacked as LockBit has.”
