Boeing is investigating a recent threat made by the Lockbit cybercrime gang who claim to have stolen a significant amount of sensitive data from the company, per Reuters.
Boeing said Friday that Lockbit allegedly threatened to publish the data online if they did not pay a ransom by Nov. 2, Reuters reported. While the exact amount and nature of the data stolen were not disclosed, Lockbit claimed that sensitive data had been exfiltrated and was ready to publish if Boeing did not meet the deadline, per the outlet. Boeing has acknowledged the claim but did not provide further details regarding the potential breach, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Biden Promises Consequences For Ransomware Attacks Originating In Russia)
Boeing assessing Lockbit hacking gang threat of sensitive data leak https://t.co/7TxHB5fNUP pic.twitter.com/fHpjEVEKGg
— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) October 28, 2023
Lockbit gained notoriety as one of the most active ransomware groups in the world based on the number of victims listed on its data leak blog. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) reported that Lockbit was responsible for approximately 1,700 cyberattacks on U.S. organizations, per Fox News.
The Lockbit ransomware gang has targeted a wide range of organizations, including those in critical infrastructure sectors such as financial services, food and agriculture, education, energy, government and emergency services, healthcare, manufacturing and transportation, per the outlet. It is estimated that the group has received approximately $91 million in ransoms from U.S. entities since its ransomware activities were first observed in January 2020, per the outlet.
A group called vxunderground claimed they have reached out to Lockbit, saying, “We spoke with Lockbit ransomware group administrative staff yesterday regarding Boeing. They informed us that they have not yet spoke with a representative from Boeing and they will not disclose any information to us about Boeing — more specifically they would not give us insights into how long they had access to Boeing, how much data was exfiltrated, what kind of data was stolen, etc.”