HHS warns of ‘Lorenz’ ransomware threat against larger organizations 

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Sector Cybersecurity Coordination Center Nov. 21 warned of a human-operated ransomware threat targeting larger organizations, with compromised targets observed in the health care and public sectors. The individuals behind the “Lorenz” ransomware publish stolen data publicly as part of extortion-pressure campaigns, in which demands on enterprise targets reach $500,000 to $700,000.

“The fairly new Lorenz ransomware is unique in that its operators appear to customize their executable code to be target specific, unlike other ransomware operators which use the same ransomware code to target multiple unrelated victim organizations” said John Riggi, AHA’s national advisor for cybersecurity and risk. “According to HC3, this may indicate that the hackers may be present for reconnaissance purposes for an extended time before executing the ransomware. What is consistent is that the Lorenz ransomware attack vectors are similar to other ransomware operators: phishing emails, compromises of known vulnerabilities and remote access technologies, and penetrating supply chains and managed service providers.”