Cactus Ransomware Group Targets Bell

Cactus ransomware group claimed an attack against Bell. The group claimed 9GB of corporate data, including ID cards, passports, financial data, and other confidential documents. Bell is currently one of the largest property services contractors in the UK, both in terms of geographical coverage and employed workforce.

Cactus's Modus Operandi

Cactus has been in operation since at least March 2023. Cactus has been observed employing known vulnerabilities within VPN appliances to initiate an initial breach. Once gaining entry to the network, Cactus operators engage in activities such as enumerating local and network user accounts and identifying accessible endpoints. They then proceed to generate new user accounts and utilize custom scripts for the automated rollout and activation of the ransomware encryptor through scheduled tasks.

It is noteworthy that the ransomware encryptor utilized by Cactus exhibits a unique characteristic – it necessitates a decryption key for the execution of the binary, likely implemented to evade detection by anti-virus software. This decryption key is concealed within a file containing random text named ntuser.dat, which is loaded through a scheduled task.