FBI says scammers are concentrating on US executives with pretend BianLian ransom notes

The FBI is warning that scammers are impersonating the BianLian ransomware gang utilizing pretend ransom notes despatched to U.S. company executives.

The pretend ransom notes, first reported by U.S. cybersecurity firm GuidePoint Safety, declare that hackers have gained entry to a corporation’s community to steal delicate information, and threaten to publish the stolen information until a ransom demand is paid. 

The scammers are demanding between $250,000 and $500,000, in accordance with the FBI, which says the letter features a QR code linked to a Bitcoin pockets. The notes have a return deal with to an workplace constructing in Boston, Massachusetts, and declare to be from the BianLian ransomware gang.

The Russia-linked BianLian gang was the topic of a CISA alert in November final yr, which warned that the group had focused a number of U.S. essential infrastructure sectors since June 2022.

It’s not recognized what number of people have been focused by this rip-off, and the FBI hasn’t named any recognized victims. Cybersecurity agency Arctic Wolf reviews that the letters have primarily been despatched to executives within the U.S. healthcare sector. 

The FBI says it has not recognized any connections between the people sending the ransom notes and BianLian.