October 22, 2021
New ransomware known as Macaw Locker and based on code analysis as the newest brand of the Ransomware family of Evil Corp is rated, has turned out to be the group behind the ransomware attack, which targeted both Olympus and Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Sharing the private Macaw Locker victim sites for the two attacks, the threat scenarios demanded a 450 Bitcoin ransom ($28 million) for one attack and $40 million for the second victim, although there were no details on which company would pay a specific ransom.
When examining the gang’s Darkweb negotiating platform, the site includes a brief introduction to what happened to the victim, a tool to decrypt three files for free and a chat box to negotiate with the attackers.
As the attackers execute their attacks, the group encrypts the files of the victims and adds the .macaw extension to the filename when carrying out the attack.
The ransomware while encrypting files generates ransom demands in each folder named macaw _recover.txt and for each attack, the ransom note contains a unique negotiation page for victims on the Macaw Locker’s Tor site and an associated decryption ID.
For more information, read the original story in Bleeping Computer.
