Chinese hacking group APT27 that was into intelligence stealing and espionage has taken a fresh stream to make money. According to a report from Trendmicro, the threat actors have launched a ransomware campaign on several major gaming companies since the end of last year.
Reports are in that the APT27 aka Bronze Union or Lucky Mouse have encrypted databases of at least 5 major gaming companies and are threatening them for data leak until a ransom is paid.
Security analysts say that the rise in attacks by APT 27 could be because of a COVID-19 imposed state lockdown that made the attackers change their earning stream to more lucrative campaigns such as ransomware spread.
Some companies that were targeted by APT27 were Koei Tecmo Holdings, a gaming company from Japan, Zing Digital from Europe, and Jupiter Technologies from America are a few to name.
Incidentally, the hacking group that is also known with names such as Threat Group 3390 has a history of launching cyber attacks during the Christmas season, i.e. the start of Nov-Dec every year.
Emissary Panda, another name of the China linked espionage group, has a history of launching attacks on political, technology, manufacturing, and humanitarian organizations so far.
Last year, an investigation launched by NCSC revealed that the same hackers group targeted a European Drone company and a state funded national data center in Central Asia.
Hope, the game developers located across the world have taken a note of the situation…..!
