ICBC Hack Shows All Foreign Marks Are Equal to Russia’s LockBit
LockBit has deployed its trademark knack for ruthless efficiency and strategy of farming out the actual work of hacking to affiliated partners.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergA crippling cyberattack targeting the US division of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world’s biggest bank, shows that cunning extortionists are paying little mind to the unofficial peace between Russia-linked hackers and China.
Cyber sleuths believe a group called LockBit, the world’s most prolific cyber extortion group, carried out the attack. Purporting to be based out of the Netherlands and consisting largely of Russian speakers, LockBit — which is not an extension of the Russian government — has deployed its trademark knack for ruthless efficiency and strategy of farming out the actual work of hacking to affiliated partners to quickly assert itself as the alpha dog of cyber extortion.