The BianLian Ransomware Gang's Attack on Misr Life Insurance

The BianLian ransomware gang has attacked Misr Life Insurance. Misr Life Insurance is a life insurance provider headquartered in Giza, Egypt, that caters to Egypt, the Middle East, and Africa. It was founded in 1901 and changed its name from the National Insurance Company of Egypt in 2010. BianLian posted Misr Life Insurance to its data leak site on June 28th, claiming to have stolen SQL backups, email archives, and business files.

Who is BianLian?

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.

How Does BianLian Operate?

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 BianLian's 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.