A notorious ransomware group has received the largest ransom payment ever

An unnamed Fortune 50 company has reportedly paid the Dark Angels ransomware gang an eye-watering $75 million to reclaim control of its systems.

The report by Zscaler ThreatLabz noted the payment marks the highest known ransom ever paid, considerably surpassing the previous record of $40 million held by insurance giant CNA after a ransomware attack by Evil Corp.

The emerging widespread threat of ransomware attacks combined with a new record-breaking payment has sparked serious concern among cybersecurity specialists, who only see the threat as getting worse.

$75 million ransom payment breaks all records

While Zscaler did not disclose the identity of the Fortune 50 company, they mentioned the incident occurred in early 2024. Speculation points to pharmaceutical giant Cencora, ranked number 10 in the Fortune 50 list, which experienced an attack in February 2024. No ransomware gang is known to have claimed responsibility for the attack, suggesting a ransom payment might have been made.

The report also illustrates the increasing threat from ransomware gangs – the company identified 19 new ransomware families, blocked 17.8% more attacks than the year before, and saw 57.8% more extorted companies on data leak sites.

Zscaler revealed the US accounts for virtually half (49.95%) of all attacks, with countries like the UK, Germany, Canada and France also at a higher-than-average risk, with critical infrastructure and sectors like manufacturing, healthcare and technology seeing the most attacks.

The ransomware group responsible for the record-breaking $75 million payment, has been operating since around May 2022. In September 2023, the gang, known as Dark Angels, unsuccessfully demanded a $51 million ransom.

TechRadar Pro has asked Cencora to confirm whether it paid a ransom for its February 2024 attack, but we did not receive an immediate response.

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