US says ‘Russia-based’ group DarkSide behind pipeline hack
US authorities have identified a relatively new gang of cyber criminals as being behind the ransomware attack which paralyzed a key fuel pipeline.
Called DarkSide, experts say it is one of a growing number of outfits that provide attack software to other groups.
DarkSide first emerged publicly in August 2020 and it specializes in what is known as ransomware: programs that infiltrate a victim’s computer network and then encrypt data on machines, thus blocking operations. The criminals then demandi a ransom to free the data.
Experts believe that the team behind DarkSide is made up of experienced cyber criminals as the software goes beyond earlier indiscriminate ransomware attacks.