RANSOMWARE OPERATION💰 FINANCIAL

cicada3301

aliases

Intelligence Profile

Cicada3301 is a ransomware-as-a-service group (tracked as Repellent Scorpius by Palo Alto) that emerged in mid-2024 using Rust-based ransomware targeting Windows, Linux, and ESXi systems, suspected to be a successor of BlackCat/ALPHV and running an affiliate program with 20% commissions.

Threat Analysis

cicada3301 is a ransomware operation that deploys encryption-based extortion against organizations globally. This group maintains a data leak site (DLS) to pressure victims into paying ransom demands.

Financially motivated threat actors like cicada3301 prioritize monetary gain through methods such as ransomware deployment, banking trojans, cryptocurrency theft, BEC scams, or credential harvesting for resale on underground markets.

External References

→https://www.ransomlook.io/group/cicada3301

→https://www.group-ib.com/blog/cicada3301/

→https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/repellent-scorpius-cicada3301-ransomware/

→https://thehackernews.com/2024/10/cross-platform-cicada3301-ransomware.html

→https://cyble.com/threat-actor-profiles/cicada3301/

→https://www.truesec.com/hub/blog/dissecting-the-cicada

→https://www.morphisec.com/blog/cicada3301-ransomware-threat-analysis

→https://www.waterisac.org/portal/ransomware-awareness-%E2%80%93-new-ransomware-group-%E2%80%9Ccicada3301%E2%80%9D-surfaces-connections-alphv-network

Quick Facts

TypeRansomware Operation

Motivation💰 financial

Aliases1

Also Known As

cicada3301

DLS Infrastructure

○ OFFLINEcicadabv7vicyvgz5khl7v2x5yygcgow7ryy6yppwmxii4eoobdaztqd.onion

○ OFFLINEcicadacnft7gcgnveb7wjm6pjpjcjcsugogmlrat7u7pcel3iwb7bhyd.onion

○ OFFLINEcicadaxousmk6nbntd3ucxefmfgt2drhtfdvh7gmdeh3ttvudam6f2ad.onion

○ OFFLINEcicadafhqpjwm2sblkfbuwn7sglbibuejr3m7fildpqpjv3hghlhb4id.onion

○ OFFLINEzf6bl4dczp5z7uaba2lhm5wrhrpflwvzsx2nhf7zyf63tpsfzc54tbad.onion

Research Links

MITRE ATT&CK VirusTotal Google (news) Twitter/X search

Data sourced from Malpedia, Ransomware.live, RansomLook, and CTIWATCH OSINT collection. Actor attribution is based on available intelligence and may be incomplete.

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