The BianLian Ransomware Group's Latest Attack

The BianLian ransomware group has allegedly attacked Aelius MD Medical Systems. Aelius MD Medical Systems is a healthcare software services provider headquartered in California. The organization has neither confirmed nor denied the incident. BianLian ransomware group claims to have stolen 3.8TB of information, including finance and accounting, HR, developments, source codes, and patients' private, personal, and SQL database data.

BianLian: A Notorious Cybercriminal Organization

BianLian is an infamous cybercriminal organization involved in the development and deployment of ransomware. Since June 2022, they have targeted various critical infrastructure sectors in the United States. Additionally, they have extended their attacks to include Australian critical infrastructure sectors, as well as professional services and property development domains.

Methodology of Attacks

To gain unauthorized access to their victims' systems, the group exploits valid Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) credentials. They employ open-source tools and command-line scripts to carry out reconnaissance and gather credentials. Victim data is then extracted using File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Rclone, or Mega. Subsequently, the BianLian group proceeds to extort money from their victims by threatening to expose the obtained data unless a payment is made.

Evolution of Extortion Tactics

Initially, the group utilized a double-extortion approach, which involved encrypting victims' systems after data exfiltration. However, starting around January 2023, they primarily focused on data exfiltration-based extortion.