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A major company made a staggering $75 million ransomware payment to hackers earlier this year, according to cybersecurity vendor Zscaler.
Zscaler made the claim in a Tuesday report examining the latest trends in ransomware attacks, which continue to ensnare companies, hospitals, and schools across the country.
In a tweet, Zscaler said the unnamed “Fortune 50 company” made the $75 million payment to a lesser known ransomware group called Dark Angels. “The payment is the single largest ransomware-related transaction ever reported,” the cybersecurity vendor added.
Chainanalysis, a cryptocurrency tracking firm, also confirmed to PCMag it spotted the $75 million payment to Dark Angels as well.
The previous ransomware record holder goes to insurance provider CNA, which reportedly paid $40 million to a hacking group known as Phoenix in 2021.
Compared to other ransomware groups, Dark Angels stands out by usually focusing on a "single large company at a time,” and demanding a high sum, Zscaler says. “This is in stark contrast to most ransomware groups, which target victims indiscriminately and outsource most of the attack to affiliate networks."
As an example, Zscaler said it tracked Dark Angels in September 2023 breaching an “international conglomerate that provides solutions for building automation systems, among other services.” Dark Angels stole 27TB of corporate information while encrypting the company’s VMware ESXi virtual machines. The group then demanded a $51 million ransom.
“The Dark Angels ransomware group’s strategy of targeting a small number of high-value companies for large payouts is a trend worth monitoring,” according to Zscaler, which says its "ThreatLabz predicts that other ransomware groups will take note of Dark Angels’ success and may adopt similar tactics.”
The US remains a top target for ransomware hackers. The number of ransomware attacks in the country this year have doubled so far to 1,821, up from 902 in 2023. The company published the findings as others, such as Chainalysis, report that the ransomware scourge continues to grow, despite law enforcement efforts to crack down.