A pair of ransomware attacks crippled parts of the country—and rewrote the rules of cybercrime.
Conti first announced its attack on the finance ministry on its blog, where it publishes the names of its victims and, if they fail to pay its ransom, the files it has stolen from them. A person or group dubbing themselves unc1756—the “UNC” abbreviation is used by some—used the blog to claim responsibility for the attack. The attacker demanded $10 million as a ransom payment, later upping the figure to $20 million.
However, Conti’s behavior was more erratic and disturbing than usual—the attacker moved into politics. “I appeal to every resident of Costa Rica, go to your government and organize rallies,” one post on Conti’s blog. “We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack,” said another post addressed to Costa Rica and “US terrorists .”
“I think I never saw cyber criminals using, publicly at least, such rhetoric against any government,” says Sergey Shykevich, Threat Intelligence group manager at security firm Check Point, who also notes thataround the same time as the Costa Rica attacks. Shykevich says Conti’s behavior was criticized on Russian-language hacking forums, as getting into politics would draw more attention to cybercrime groups.
Some believe Conti’s attack against Costa Rica may have been designed as a distraction. On May 19, US-based cybersecurity firm, saying the group had started dismantling its brand—but not its overall organizational structure—in early May. Citing visibility inside the gang, AdvIntel said the administration panel of Conti’s news website has been shut down.
Several weeks later, AdvIntel CEO Vitali Kremez says Conti’s services are still offline. The Costa Rica attack, at least in the eyes of AdVIntel, was meant to give Conti cover while it continued to rebrand itself and start using different types of ransomware. Despite this, Conti’s last reckless public act may leave a legacy. While cybercriminals may not choose to routinely attack national governments, a new precedent has been set.
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