Vice Society | Breaking Cybersecurity News | The Hacker News

The Vice Society ransomware actors have switched to yet another custom ransomware payload in their recent attacks aimed at a variety of sectors. "This ransomware variant, dubbed ' PolyVice ,' implements a robust encryption scheme, using  NTRUEncrypt  and  ChaCha20-Poly1305  algorithms," SentinelOne researcher Antonio Cocomazzi  said  in an analysis. Vice Society , which is tracked by Microsoft under the moniker DEV-0832, is an intrusion, exfiltration, and extortion hacking group that first appeared on the threat landscape in May 2021. Unlike other ransomware gangs, the cybercrime actor does not use file-encrypting malware developed in-house. Instead, it's known to deploy third-party lockers such as Hello Kitty, Zeppelin, and RedAlert ransomware in their attacks. Per SentinelOne, indications are that the threat actor behind the custom-branded ransomware is also selling similar payloads to other hacking crews based on PolyVice's extensive similarities to ra

The Vice Society cybercrime group has disproportionately targeted educational institutions, accounting for 33 victims in 2022 and surpassing other ransomware families like LockBit, BlackCat, BianLian, and Hive. Other prominent industry verticals targeted include healthcare, governments, manufacturing, retail, and legal services, according to an  analysis of leak site data  by Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. The cybersecurity company called Vice Society one of the "most impactful ransomware gangs of 2022." Of the 100 organizations affected in total, 35 cases have been reported from the U.S., followed by 18 in the U.K., seven in Spain, six each in Brazil and France, four each in Germany and Italy, and three cases in Australia. Active since May 2021, Vice Society stands apart from other ransomware crews in that it does not use a ransomware variant of its own, rather relying on pre-existing ransomware binaries such as HelloKitty and Zeppelin that are sold on underground forums.

When it comes to ensuring the security of your APIs, there are four critical capabilities.

A cybercrime group known as  Vice Society  has been linked to multiple ransomware strains in its malicious campaigns aimed at the education, government, and retail sectors. The Microsoft Security Threat Intelligence team, which is tracking the threat cluster under the moniker DEV-0832, said the group avoids deploying ransomware in some cases and rather likely carries out extortion using exfiltrated stolen data. "Shifting ransomware payloads over time from  BlackCat ,  Quantum Locker , and  Zeppelin , DEV-0832's latest payload is a Zeppelin variant that includes Vice Society-specific file extensions, such as .v-s0ciety, .v-society, and, most recently, .locked," the tech giant's cybersecurity division  said . Vice Society, active since June 2021, has been steadily observed encrypting and exfiltrating victim data, and threatening companies with exposure of siphoned information to pressure them into paying a ransom. "Unlike other RaaS (Ransomware-as-a-Service)