Another big company hit by a ransomware attack

(CNN) — Accenture, the planetary consulting firm, has been deed by the LockBit ransomware gang, according to the cybercriminal group’s website.

Accenture’s encrypted files volition beryllium published by the radical connected the acheronian web connected Wednesday unless the institution pays the ransom, LockBit claimed, according to screenshots of the website reviewed by CNN Business and Emsisoft, a cybersecurity firm.

Stacey Jones, an Accenture spokesperson, confirmed a cybersecurity incidental connected Wednesday, but did not explicitly admit a ransomware attack.

“Through our information controls and protocols, we identified irregular enactment successful 1 of our environments,” Jones said successful a statement. “We instantly contained the substance and isolated the affected servers. We afloat restored our affected systems from backmost up. There was nary interaction connected Accenture’s operations, oregon connected our clients’ systems.”

The LockBit ransomware pack archetypal emerged successful September 2019, according to an Emsisoft illustration of the group. LockBit, similar galore different ransomware gangs, leases its malicious bundle to third-party transgression affiliates who past person a chopped of ransoms successful speech for planting the codification onto unfortunate networks.

The pursuing year, Interpol warned of a spike successful attacks utilizing the LockBit malicious software. Major victims of the radical see Merseyrail, a UK obstruction network, and the Press Trust of India, an Indian quality organization, according to Emsisoft.

Ransomware has go a captious menace to nationalist and economical security, the U.S. authorities has said, amid a drawstring of attacks against firm and infrastructure targets. Earlier this year, an onslaught by the radical DarkSide forced Colonial Pipeline to unopen down its substance organisation operation, causing gasoline shortages nationwide. The transgression gang REvil attacked JBS Foods, 1 of the world’s largest nutrient suppliers. And a consequent onslaught by the aforesaid radical — targeting the IT bundle vendor Kaseya — coiled up infecting an estimated 1,500 tiny businesses astir the world.

Brett Callow, a menace expert astatine Emsisoft, said it is imaginable that erstwhile affiliates of the REvil ransomware pack whitethorn person aligned themselves with LockBit pursuing REvil’s abrupt disappearance pursuing the Kaseya attack.