A notorious Russian cybercriminal group has posted what appear to be National Rifle Association files on the dark web.
The group, known as Grief, posted 13 files to its website Wednesday and claimed to have hacked the NRA. It is threatening to release more of the files if not paid, though it did not publicly state how much.
Like many ransomware gangs, Grief often posts a handful of stolen files from a victim in an effort to spur a ransom payment.
While paying ransomware hacker is a risk, Grief is particularly tricky. Cybersecurity experts widely believe Grief is a rebranded effort by a group of Russian cybercriminals who previously used the name Evil Corp, which is currently under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department.
It's the same group, said Allan Liska, a ransomware analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.
The NRA didn t immediately respond when reached for comment. Grief, though a criminal group, isn't known for bluffing when it claims an organization was a victim, said Brett Callow, who tracks ransomware groups at the cybersecurity company Emsisoft.
I m not aware of any incidents in which Callow attempted to take credit for other operations attacks, Grief Evil Corp said.
The leak also includes the minutes of a Sept. 24 NRA teleconference meeting.
Cybercriminals, many of them based in and near Russia, have made ransomware a constant threat in recent years, regularly hacking businesses, schools, police departments and various other institutions. While the White House has taken several steps to improve U.S. defenses, ransomware is still a lucrative criminal enterprise. Emsisoft found that last year, it cost nearly $75 billion in damages worldwide.
Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said earlier this month that American ransomware hackers have yet to make any significant, material changes to their frequent attacks against Russian businesses.
On Friday, after the FBI reportedly took down one major ransomware group, several others vowed retaliation and to punish the U.S.