As per a corporate statement, Emil Frey, one of Europe’s largest auto dealers, was targeted by ransomware last month. On February 1, the Swiss company was added to the list of Hive ransomware victims, confirming that they had been targeted in January.
“We have restored and restarted our commercial activity already days after the incident on January 11, 2022,” a spokesperson stated, declining to comment further on whether or not customer data was accessed.
Due to a range of automobile-related businesses, the company, which employs roughly 3,000 people, achieved $3.29 billion in revenues in 2020. Based on income and the total number of vehicles for sale, it was declared Europe’s top auto dealership.
Before referring victims to a URL to the group’s “sales department” that can be accessed using a TOR browser, the FBI advisory outlines how the ransomware corrupts devices and backups. The URL connects victims to a live chat with the perpetrators, but the FBI reports that some victims have been phoned by the attackers demanding money.
The majority of victims have a 2-6-day payment deadline. However, some have been able to extend their deadlines through negotiation.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the National Security Agency (NSA), as well as the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in the United Kingdom and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), issued a warning on Wednesday, indicating that a global surge of more sophisticated ransomware attacks presents a danger to crucial infrastructure and companies.
“We live at a time when every government, every business, every person must focus on the threat of ransomware and take action to mitigate the risk of becoming a victim,” stated CISA Director Jen Easterly.
