Etude Villa Florek Targeted by BlackBasta Ransomware Group

Etude Villa Florek in France has been added to the BlackBasta ransomware group's data leak site. The group claims to have obtained 43 GB of data, including finance, accounting, confidential files, customer files, and users' data. The ransom deadline has already expired and all of the exfiltrated data has been reported as leaked. Etude Villa Florek is a legal advisory company that works with the business leader to find solutions that are most favorable to the interests of its creditors and employees.

About BlackBasta Ransomware Group

BlackBasta is a RaaS (Ransomware-as-a-Service) that emerged in early 2022 and is assessed by some researchers to be an offshoot of the disbanded Conti and REvil attack groups. The group routinely exfiltrates sensitive data from victims for additional extortion leverage. BlackBasta engages in highly targeted attacks and is assessed to only work with a limited group of highly vetted affiliate attackers. BlackBasta has quickly became one of the most prolific attack groups in 2023 and was observed leveraging unique TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) for ingress, lateral movement, data exfiltration data, and deployment of ransomware payloads.

Ransom Demands and Tactics

Ransom demands vary depending on the targeted organization with reports that they can be as high as $2 million dollars. BlackBasta continues to evolve their RaaS platform, with ransomware payloads that can infect systems running both Windows and Linux systems. BlackBasta is particularly adept at exploiting vulnerabilities in VMware ESXi running on enterprise servers.

BlackBasta ransomware is written in C++, can target both Windows and Linux systems, encrypts data with ChaCha20, and then the encryption key is encrypted with RSA-4096 for rapid encryption of the targeted network. In some cases, BlackBasta leverages malware strains like Qakbot and exploits such as PrintNightmare during the infection process. BlackBasta also favors abuse of insecure Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) deployments, one of the leading infection vectors for ransomware.

Targeted Sectors and Double Extortion

BlackBasta typically targets manufacturing, transportation, construction and related services, telecommunications, the automotive sector, and healthcare providers. BlackBasta also employs a double extortion scheme and maintains an active leaks website where they post exfiltrated data if an organization declines to pay the ransom demand.