{"id":1439297,"date":"2022-04-15T00:29:49","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T04:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1439297"},"modified":"2022-04-15T00:29:55","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T04:29:55","slug":"big-business-ransomware-gang-has-hr-departmentemployee-of-the-month-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/big-business-ransomware-gang-has-hr-departmentemployee-of-the-month-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Business: Ransomware Gang Has HR Department,&#039;Employee of the Month&#039; Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbig-business-ransomware-gang-has-hr-departmentemployee-of-the-month-awards%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1439297&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">According to a recent report, one of the most prolific ransomware groups of 2021 operates in a manner similar to a legitimate business with a human resources department, employee performance reviews, and even an employee of the month award. The gang has reportedly generated $2.7 billion in cryptocurrency through their illegal schemes.<\/p>\n<p>CNBC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/04\/14\/conti-ransomware-leak-shows-group-operates-like-normal-tech-company.html\">reports<\/a>\u00a0that leaked documents have revealed the details of a Russian hacker group identified by the FBI as one of the most prolific ransomware hacking groups of 2021. When thinking of hacker groups, many may picture dark bedrooms and teenagers using their computer knowledge to hold companies\u2019 precious data ransom, but according to a series of leaked documents, this ransomware group even has physical offices.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_6717110\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3q0far3-e1498174433819.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-6717110\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/3q0far3-e1498174433819.jpg\" alt=\"The Associated Press\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">FILE \u2013 In this May 13, 2017 file photo, a screenshot of the warning screen from a purported ransomware attack, as captured by a computer user in Taiwan. (AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein, File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to Shmuel Gihon, a security researcher at the threat intelligence firm Cyberint, the ransomware hacking group known as Conti emerged in 2020 and has since grown into one of the biggest ransomware operations in the world. The group is estimated to have around 350 members who have generated $2.7 billion in cryptocurrency in just two years.<\/p>\n<p>The FBI warned in its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ic3.gov\/Media\/PDF\/AnnualReport\/2021_IC3Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Internet Crime Report 2021<\/a>\u00a0that the ransomware used by Conti was among the \u201cthree top variants\u201d that targeted critical infrastructure in the United States last year. The FBI stated that Conti\u00a0\u201cmost frequently victimized the Critical Manufacturing, Commercial Facilities, and Food and Agriculture sectors.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The document leak appears to be an act of revenge prompted by a post made by Conti following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Cyberint commented that the group could have said nothing but\u00a0\u201cas we suspected, Conti chose to side with Russia, and this is where it all went south.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Soon after the post, a Twitter account named ContiLeaks began posting thousands of the group\u2019s internal messages alongside pro-Ukraine comments. The account owner claims to be a \u201csecurity researcher,\u201d who has since stepped back from Twitter leaving with a final message which reads:\u00a0\u201cMy last words\u2026 See you all after our victory! Glory to Ukraine!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The documents revealed that Conti operates like any other tech company with clear management, finance, and human resource functions as well as a classic organizational hierarchy with team leaders reporting to upper management.\u00a0Lotem Finkelstein, the head of threat intelligence at Check Point Software Technologies, commented: \u201cOur \u2026 assumption is that such a huge organization, with physical offices and enormous revenue, would not be able to act in Russia without the full approval, or even some cooperation, with Russian intelligence services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/04\/14\/conti-ransomware-leak-shows-group-operates-like-normal-tech-company.html\">CNBC here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><i>Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter\u00a0<\/i><i><a class=\"x5l\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/lucasnolan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">@LucasNolan<\/a>\u00a0<\/i><i>or contact via secure email at the address\u00a0<a class=\"x5l\" href=\"mailto:lucasnolan@protonmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">lucasnolan@protonmail.com<\/a><\/i><i><\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a recent report, one of the most prolific ransomware groups of 2021 operates in a manner similar to a legitimate business with a human resources department, employee performance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1439297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1439297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1439297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1439297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1439297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1439297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}