Ransomware Cartel Formed

The infamous Maze Ransomware team is forming a hacker cartel to expand their reach. The Maze group has been behind  many prominent attacks recently (like here, here and here).

Ransomware gangs are teaming up to extort victims through a shared data leak platform, and the exchange of tactics and intelligence.

Maze was one of the first to post stolen Ransomware data from its attacks, leading its rise to prominence in the hacker community. This tactic has been used successfully to force payment of their ransom demands.

By joining forces to share advice, tactics, and a centralized data leak platform, ransomware operations can focus more on creating more sophisticated attacks and successful extortion attempts.

With huge profit potential, more hacker groups have organized. Seeing the potential for collaboration, Maze is building its cartel to further increase revenue opportunities.

They have since begun marketing themselves on Russian hacker forums where they encourage malware distributors and hackers to apply to their operation.

We face a very smart foe, and it is up to every organization to take action to arm their people with the tools to protect their networks and data.

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Original article here.
[https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-gangs-team-up-to-form-extortion-cartel/]