On March 26, 2025, the UK data protection regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”)) fined Advanced Computer Software Group Ltd (“Advanced”) £3.07 million (approximately $4 million). In 2022, Advanced suffered a ransomware incident that put the personal data of 79,404 people at risk. In its penalty notice, the ICO found that Advanced failed to implement […]
Ransomware
Emergence of Medusa Ransomware
On March 12, 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), issued a joint cybersecurity advisory on the growing threat of Medusa ransomware. First detected in June 2021, Medusa operates under a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model, allowing affiliates […]
Ransom Payments At A Historic Low According to Report
On February 4, 2025, Coveware, Inc. released its quarterly ransomware report for the fourth quarter of 2024, and identified that the percentage of victims paying ransoms fell to a historic low of 25%. While the average amount of a payment in Q4 2024 rose 16% quarter-over-quarter to $553,959, the median amount dropped a significant 45% […]
UK Government Proposes Targeted Ban on Ransom Payments and Increased Ransomware Incident Reporting
On January 14, 2025, the United Kingdom government published a consultation on ransomware proposing new measures to increase incident reporting and reduce ransom payments (the “Consultation”). The Consultation outlines three objectives in this regard and is open for responses until April 8, 2025. Proposal 1: Targeted Ban on Ransomware Payments The UK government is proposing […]
DOJ Unseals Indictment of Evil Corp Member, While OFAC Announces New Evil Corp Sanctions
On October 1, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) unsealed an indictment against Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov (Александр Викторович Рыженков), a member of the ransomware group Evil Corp. The indictment charges Ryzhenkov with several violations of the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, as well as conspiring to commit money laundering, arising from his use of a […]