A Chilean-based multinational retail company named Cencosud has fallen victim to a ransomware attack over this weekend. The ransomware variant that took down the retail firm was identified as Egregor ransomware. Cencosud is a major retail firm that handles supermarket, hypermarket, and home goods stores in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Colombia along with department stores in Paris with an annual revenue of $15 billion in 2019.
Cencosud's devices were encrypted, and the company's operations were left in shambles by the attack. The company also displayed warning signs in their stores in Buenos Aries regarding a technical malfunction preventing Cencosud credit card payments.
Egregor is a ransomware variant from a new malicious group that began its operations in September 2020. It's only been a few months since the Maze ransomware group announced it was shutting down, so some theorize that hackers who worked with Maze initially are now working with Egregor.
Like any other ransomware attack, Egregor displays a ransom note after compromising and encrypting the data; it also often prints the ransom note using the printer connected to the compromised devices. And since Egregor has already established a proven record of data breaches by encrypting data and demanding a ransom, even without including details of the data as proof, the claims made in these ransom notes can't be ignored. Incidents with Ubisoft, Crytek, and Barnes and Noble show just how capable they are with data encryption.
It is predicted that in 2021, ransomware attacks will increase exponentially. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that one ransomware attack will occur every 11 seconds in 2021, which is down from 14 seconds in 2019 and it would cost around $20 billion for victims around the world.
It is essential for businesses to brace for the increasing risk of ransomware, and take appropriate measures to avoid falling victim to a ransomware attack. By employing the right proactive cyber tools, your business can reduce the chances of becoming the next victim of this huge threat in the cyber industry.
