Ransomware-as-a-Service Groups Monetizes Cyberattacks

For the Qilin ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) group’s affiliates, business is booming, which is terrible news for the rest of us. Infiltrating the Qilin gang in March, Group-IB researchers this week examined its operations in a study that described its inner workings and the economic model that sustains it.

This concept is similar to that of other RaaS organizations and demonstrates why it is difficult to slow the spread of ransomware. Affiliates that aid in the distribution of the malicious code profit greatly.

Qilin affiliates, or those who pay to employ Qilin’s ransomware for their own assaults, can keep use80% of the money paid (if the ransom paid is $3 million or less), according to Group-IB’s assessment. A portion of up to 85% is given to affiliates for ransoms exceeding $3 million.

The use of the current ransomware by the criminals to concentrate on their targets is beneficial for their motive. This affirms the significance of Raas and ransomware.

Qilin Concept on Ransomware-as-a-Service Group

The group has been active at least since August 2022, according to Group-IB’s research on Qilin, also known as Agenda. Though it recently switched over to the Rust programming language, it originally chose to program in Go.

Rust grows in popularity with cybercriminals due to its increased difficulty in analysis and detection in addition to its simplicity in operating system customization.

similar to several groups, Qilin engages in a double-extortion scheme to collect data from victims, encrypt it, and then demand payment for a decryptor in return for keeping the data secret. The gang typically enters victim networks through phishing methods, which enables its operators to travel laterally through the networks in quest of data.

Researchers from gang-IB claim that the gang promotes its software on the dark web and maintains an explicit breach site with firm IDs and hacked account information.

Through that portal, affiliates can manage assaults through an administration panel that features blogs, a FAQ, a dashboard to manage targets, payments, and password changes, among others.

The US Remains Firm in not Paying Ransom

At present, the US advises against paying ransoms. However, the idea of a ban raises concerns that those who fall victim to ransomware would not report their plight to authorities to avoid punishments if they decide to pay the extortion fee.

In the meantime, ransomware attacks will continue, with the RaaS market, the growing numbers of affiliate programs, and the publication of stolen data on leak sites as a threat being key drivers, the Group-IB researchers wrote. The US advises against paying ransoms, but a ban would discourage victims from reporting their plight to authorities. In the meantime, ransomware attacks will continue.