The Armada Collective cyber criminals have launched a new attack that uses ransomware against UK targets.
Armada Collective Attacks Now Utilize the Cerber Ransomware
New reports indicate that the cyber criminal group known as the Armada Collective has started new coordinated attacks against targets in the United Kingdom, this time employing ransomware as well as the usual DDOS attacks. Some of the hosts that are under the gun are financial institutions such as banks.
Recently major extortion campaigns have been detected that have been operated by impostor Armada Collective hackers. These attacks have been carried out in Germany with blackmail emails. The actual attacks made by the collective is very serious and are distinct from the copycats.
The news report indicates that last week several victims received emails from the hackers. In its contents, they warn the targets that they have to pay the sum of one Bitcoin to spare themselves from a serious DDOS attack followed by an infection with the Cerber ransomware.
Two other attacks against large financial institutions in the country. Identical content has been identified. However, the Bitcoin destination wallet is changed. This may indicate a scam or a scatter tactic used by the people behind the attacks.
The Armada Collective may not be behind all of the attacks; however, security experts warn that if they are planning a targeted campaign against targets in the United Kingdom, then this is a very serious threat.
The hacker collective is known for causing thousands of dollars of damage via large targeted campaigns against specific victims. They utilize DDOS tools that bring down servers and use various exploits to extort the victims into paying Bitcoin ransom sums.
As they popularity grew over time, various other groups and individuals have started to imitate their tactics and even used their names in other coordinated attacks. This has led to the current situation – we don’t know if these threats are made by the Armada Collective or not. The new ransomware addition indicates that the group may have changed their tactic into threatening their victims with even more dangerous weapons.
