The LockBit Ransomware Gang Attacks Atlas

The LockBit ransomware gang has attacked Atlas. Atlas is an infrastructure and environmental solutions headquartered in Austin, Texas, USA. LockBit posted Atlas to its data leak site on August 16th, claiming to have stolen 40GB of data.

LockBit is a RaaS (Ransomware-as-a-Service) that has been active since 2019 and is enabled with security tool evasion capabilities and an extremely fast encryption speed. LockBit is noted for using a triple extortion model where the victim may be asked to purchase their sensitive information in addition to paying the ransom demand for decrypting systems. LockBit employs publicly available file-sharing services and a custom tool dubbed Stealbit for data exfiltration.

LockBit's Activity and Evolution

LockBit was by far the most active attack group in 2022 and continued to be one of the top attack groups in Q1 of 2023, despite being bested in sheer volume by the Cl0p ransomware gang who surged in Q1. LockBit demanded ransoms in excess of $50 million in 2022. The group has continued to improve its RaaS platform and introduced LockBit 3.0 in June of 2022. The latest version incorporates advanced anti-analysis features and is a threat to both Windows and Linux systems.

LockBit 3.0 is modular and configured with multiple execution options that direct the behavior of the ransomware on the affected systems. LockBit employs a custom Salsa20 algorithm to encrypt files. LockBit takes advantage of remote desktop protocol (RDP) exploitation for most infections and spreads on the network by way of Group Policy Objects and PsExec using the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol.

Targeting and Extortion Techniques

LockBit tends to target larger enterprises across any industry vertical with the ability to pay high ransom demands but also tends to favor Healthcare targets. LockBit is a well-run affiliate program and has an excellent reputation amongst the affiliate (attacker) community for the platform's maturity and for offering high payouts of as much as 75% of the attack proceeds. LockBit is known to employ multiple extortion techniques, including data exfiltration, to compel payment.