May 10, 2024 at 04:13PM
The joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) pertains to Black Basta, a ransomware variant targeting critical infrastructure, particularly the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector. Affiliates use phishing and exploiting vulnerabilities for initial access, employ a double-extortion model, and conduct data exfiltration prior to encryption. The CSA provides TTPs, IOCs, and mitigations for network defenders. For more details, visit stopransomware.gov.
From the meeting notes, we can extract the following key takeaways:
1. Black Basta is a ransomware variant known for targeting critical infrastructure sectors, particularly impacting the Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) Sector.
2. The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) variant, Black Basta, was first identified in April 2022 and has impacted over 500 organizations globally as of May 2024.
3. Black Basta affiliates primarily use spearphishing and have exploited ConnectWise vulnerability CVE-2024-1709 for initial access.
4. Affiliates employ a double-extortion model, encrypting systems and exfiltrating data. They use a unique code and .onion URL for communication with victims.
5. The ransom notes give victims between 10 and 12 days to pay the ransom before the ransomware group publishes their data on the Black Basta TOR site, Basta News.
6. Mitigations recommended for organizations include installing updates for operating systems, implementing multi-factor authentication, securing remote access software, and making backups of critical systems.
7. Network defenders are urged to exercise, test, and validate their security program against the threat behaviors mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK for Enterprise framework in the advisory.
8. Reporting incidents of ransomware, even if the decision to pay the ransom has not been made, is encouraged to FBI and CISA.
These takeaways provide a clear understanding of the Black Basta ransomware variant and the recommended mitigations and actions for organizations to protect against it.