Black Basta attacks Vyera Pharmaceuticals

Incident Date: Dec 19, 2023

Attack Overview
VICTIM
Vyera Pharmaceuticals
INDUSTRY
Healthcare Services
LOCATION
USA
ATTACKER
Blackbasta
FIRST REPORTED
December 19, 2023

Black Basta Ransomware Group's Attack on Vyera Pharmaceuticals

The Black Basta ransomware group claimed an attack against Vyera Pharmaceuticals. The group obtained 226GB of corporate documents, including research and development data, HR documents, forms, and other confidential information. Vyera Pharmaceuticals is focused on developing novel treatment options for toxoplasmosis and other rare or serious health conditions.

Background of Black Basta

Black Basta is a RaaS (Ransomware-as-a-Service) that emerged in early 2022 and is assessed by some researchers to be an offshoot of the disbanded Conti and REvil attack groups. The group routinely exfiltrates sensitive data from victims for additional extortion leverage. Black Basta engages in highly targeted attacks and is assessed to only work with a limited group of highly vetted affiliate attackers. Black Basta has quickly became one of the most prolific attack groups in 2023 and was observed leveraging unique TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) for ingress, lateral movement, data exfiltration data, and deployment of ransomware payloads.

Ransom Demands and Evolution

Ransom demands vary depending on the targeted organization with reports that they can be as high as $2 million dollars. Black Basta continues to evolve their RaaS platform, with ransomware payloads that can infect systems running both Windows and Linux systems. Black Basta is particularly adept at exploiting vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi running on enterprise servers.

Technical Details of the Ransomware

Black Basta ransomware is written in C++, can target both Windows and Linux systems, encrypts data with ChaCha20, and then the encryption key is encrypted with RSA-4096 for rapid encryption of the targeted network. In some cases, Black Basta leverages malware strains like Qakbot and exploits such as PrintNightmare during the infection process. Black Basta also favors abuse of insecure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) deployments, one of the leading infection vectors for ransomware.

Targeted Sectors and Double Extortion

Black Basta typically targets manufacturing, transportation, construction and related services, telecommunications, the automotive sector, and healthcare providers. Black Basta also employs a double extortion scheme and maintains an active leaks website where they post exfiltrated data if an organization declines to pay the ransom demand.

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