The BianLian Ransomware Gang's Attack on TY Inc.

The BianLian ransomware gang has allegedly attacked TY Inc. BianLian posted TY Inc's details to its data leak site on June 3rd, claiming to have stolen 700GB of data, including contracts and worksheets pertaining to their work for Disney and Marvel. TY Inc is a stuffed toy manufacturer headquartered in Illinois, US. TY Inc has neither confirmed nor denied the attack.

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.

Extortion Tactics

Subsequently, the BianLian group proceeds to extort money from their victims by threatening to expose the obtained data unless a payment is made. 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.