The Cl0p Ransomware Gang's Attack on Olayan Saudi Holding Company

The Cl0p ransomware gang has attacked the Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO). The Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO) is a prominent diversified conglomerate based in Saudi Arabia. It was established in 1947 by Suliman S. Olayan, and it has since grown to become one of the largest privately held companies in the country. OSHCO operates across a wide range of industries, including real estate, manufacturing, distribution, services, and investments.

Cl0p posted Olayan Saudi Holding Company (OSHCO) to its data leak site on March 24th but did not provide any further information. Cl0p is a major Ransomware-as-service (RaaS) platform first observed in 2019. Cl0p is a dangerous ransomware family because it has advanced anti-analysis capabilities and anti-virtual machine analysis to prevent investigations in an emulated environment like those commonly used by security tools.

Cl0p's Technical Capabilities and Targets

Cl0p is one of just a handful of threat actors that have developed a Linux version. While Linux has a tiny footprint in desktop computing, it runs ~80% of web servers and a substantial portion of embedded devices used in the healthcare field – and this means that Cl0p is likely actively recruiting new talent to help improve their platform and expand the scope of what and whom they can attack.

Cl0p also exfiltrates data to be leveraged in double extortion schemes and has recently claimed responsibility for attacks against over 130 organizations – some outside the healthcare sector - using a zero-day vulnerability in secure file transfer software GoAnywhere MFT.