Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) chip maker Advantech was hit with a Conti (Ryuk) ransomware, The bad actors are now demanding 750 in bitcoin worth over $13 million in ransom from the firm.
Advantech is based in Taiwan and it has 8,000 employees worldwide. Last year, the IIoT chip maker reported over $1.7 billion in annual revenue. On Nover 20, it was ranked No. 4 in the “2020 Best Global Taiwan Brands,”
The Conti ransomware gang infected the online systems of Advantech. On November 21, the gang announced that it was responsible for the hacking and demanded that IIoT chip maker pay the ransom the following day. In exchange for the ransom, the gang promised to provide a decryption key to restore the encrypted files. It also threatened to leak stolen data if the company refuses to pay.
On November 26, the Conti ransomware gang started leaking the data stolen. The size of the leaked information was about 3.03 GB, which represents about 2% of the total data stolen.
The role of “leak sites” in the hack
It is now a mainstream tactic for cybercriminals to create “leak sites” where they upload private documents and sensitive information taken from hacked companies. The hackers leak small amounts of data when a company is slow in paying the ransom.
