Threats Tagged 'extortion'

A new extortion group called Pink, tracked as cluster CL-CRI-1147, employs voice phishing and fake IT helpdesk impersonation to compromise organizations. The gang steals employee credentials, bypasses multi-factor authentication, and exfiltrates data from cloud storage platforms like SharePoint and OneDrive. Pink threatens to leak stolen information unless ransom demands are met, setting 72-hour deadlines. The group's data-leak site launched on May 31, 2026. This approach mirrors tactics popularized by Lapsus$, Scattered Spider, and ShinyHunters. Incident responders link Pink to The Com, a loosely connected network of English-speaking hackers and extortionists. Attackers use compromised victim accounts and internal Teams messages for extortion communications, reusing domains across multiple targets.

The Gentlemen is an active ransomware and extortion operation that emerged publicly in the second half of 2025, rapidly escalating into a high-volume threat actor. The group appears to be a continuation or reorganization of prior ransomware affiliate activity, with reported connections to the Qilin ecosystem and the Russian-speaking actor 'hastalamuerte.' This growth likely reflects existing ransomware experience, affiliate relationships, and access to established resources. Underground sources indicate attempts to sell data allegedly connected to The Gentlemen ransomware activity, though the available information lacks sufficient victim-specific or technical details to confirm authenticity. The operation utilizes SystemBC for command and control communications and deploys ransomware variants targeting both Windows and Linux systems.

In early May 2026, Instructure confirmed a breach affecting its Canvas learning platform after detecting unauthorized activity on May 1. ShinyHunters exploited the Free-For-Teacher account program, compromising the Canvas platform directly and exposing names, email addresses, student IDs, and private messages. The exposure window ran from April 30 to May 7, 2026. ShinyHunters claims 3.6 TB of data covering approximately 275 million users across 9,000 schools globally, including institutions in the US, Australia, and EU. This represents ShinyHunters' second attack against Instructure in eight months. Instructure shut down the Free-For-Teacher program permanently, rotated API keys and privileged credentials, and engaged forensic investigators. The stolen data enables personalized phishing campaigns targeting students and faculty, with attackers potentially having write access sufficient to deface login pages at multiple institutions.

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Since February 2026, multiple incidents involving data theft and extortion have been attributed to activity cluster CL-CRI-1116, also known as BlackFile, UNC6671, and Cordial Spider. These financially-motivated attackers, likely associated with "The Com" collective, employ voice-based phishing combined with credential harvesting through fraudulent login pages. They impersonate IT support staff to steal credentials and bypass multi-factor authentication. The attackers focus on Living Off the Land techniques, abusing legitimate APIs like Microsoft Graph to access SharePoint sites and Salesforce data. They search for confidential information and employee data within SaaS environments, then exfiltrate it through browser downloads or API exports. To pressure victims into paying seven-figure ransoms, attackers send demands via Gmail and compromised email accounts, sometimes employing SWATting tactics against executives.

North Korean state-backed attackers are utilizing Medusa ransomware in their ongoing extortion attacks against the U.S.healthcare sector. The Symantec and Carbon Black Threat Hunter Team discovered evidence of North Korean actors employing Medusa in an attack on a Middle Eastern target and an unsuccessful attempt on a U.S.healthcare organization. Medusa, launched in 2023, operates as a ransomware-as-a-service. The Lazarus sub-group Stonefly has been a key player in North Korean ransomware attacks, using proceeds to fund espionage activities. Despite indictments and rewards, the attacks continue unabated. The current campaign employs various tools, including Comebacker, Blindingcan, ChromeStealer, and RP_Proxy. While the attacks bear similarities to previous Stonefly operations, the exact sub-group responsible remains unclear.

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Threat actors associated with ShinyHunters-branded extortion operations are expanding their tactics, targeting cloud-based SaaS applications for data theft and extortion. The attackers use sophisticated voice phishing and credential harvesting to gain initial access, then exfiltrate sensitive data from various platforms. They employ aggressive extortion tactics, including harassment and DDoS attacks. The activity involves multiple threat clusters (UNC6661, UNC6671, UNC6240) and targets a growing number of cloud platforms. The attackers leverage social engineering to bypass MFA and use tools like ToogleBox Recall to cover their tracks. This activity highlights the effectiveness of social engineering and the importance of phishing-resistant MFA methods.

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Over the past few weeks, Rapid7 has observed increased activity of a new threat group attacking AWS cloud environments with the goal of data exfiltration and subsequent extortion of the victim. This threat group refers to itself as ‘Crimson Collective’ and has recently announced that it is behind an attack on Red Hat, wherein it claims to have stolen private repositories from Red Hat’s GitLab.

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Two cyber criminal groups, UNC6040 and UNC6395, are targeting organizations' Salesforce platforms for data theft and extortion. UNC6040 uses social engineering, particularly voice phishing, to gain access to Salesforce accounts. They trick employees into granting access or sharing credentials, then use API queries or malicious connected apps to exfiltrate data. UNC6395 exploits compromised OAuth tokens for the Salesloft Drift application to access Salesforce instances. Both groups have been observed exfiltrating large volumes of customer data. Victims of UNC6040 have received extortion emails demanding cryptocurrency payments to prevent data publication. The FBI has provided numerous IP addresses and other indicators of compromise associated with these groups, along with recommended mitigations to enhance security and prevent such attacks.

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