The Daixin Ransomware Attack on Air Asia

The Daixin ransomware gang has attacked Air Asia. AirAsia is Malaysia's largest airline, boasting 22,000 employees and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Security researchers first identified the attack on November 20th, 2022, but it is believed to have taken place between November 11th and 12th, 2022.

Daixin published two spreadsheets to its data leak site, which appear to include the personal information of customers and staff, including dates of birth, country of birth, and secret questions and answers used to secure accounts. Daixin reportedly avoided encrypting critical files related to flying equipment to ensure the incident didn't pose a threat to life but did prevent access to staff and passenger records until the payment was made. However, Daixin later abandoned the extortion attempt.

"The chaotic organization of the network, the absence of any standards, caused the irritation of the group and a complete unwillingness to repeat the attack," the spokesperson for Daixin Team said. "The group refused to pick through the garbage for a long time. As our pentester said, 'Let the newcomers sort this trash, they have a lot of time.'"

Method of Attack

To gain initial access to their victims, the Daixin actors exploit vulnerabilities in virtual private network (VPN) servers. One known instance involved exploiting an unpatched vulnerability in the target organization's VPN server [T1190]. In another case, they used previously compromised credentials to access a legacy VPN server [T1078] lacking multifactor authentication (MFA). The actors likely acquired VPN credentials by using a phishing email containing a malicious attachment [T1598.002].