New ransomware group Hive leaks Altus group sample files
On June 14th, Altus Group, a commercial real estate software solutions company, has announced that its data was breached. A week later, they reported "no evidence of impact". Now, we have information that their data may have possibly been leaked by Hive – a new ransomware group. Here's what we know.
A day before the announcement, the Altus group has been affected by a cybersecurity breach. IT back-office and communications systems, such as email have been taken offline at the time.
Throughout the further updates, the company was yet to disclose whether any information was actually leaked. We have a reason to believe that there is.
Files leaked online
What appears to be a new ransomware group with no prior history of breaches – Hive – has published a hidden service (darknet) website this week. It's called HiveLeaks, and as of now, it includes only one entry, the Altus Group.
We believe Hive to be a ransomware group, because it currently states the data to be "encrypted", potentially suggesting that Altus Group is given an opportunity to pay itself out of further trouble.
The provided sample of exfiltrated files includes business data and documents, as well as Argus certificates and development files. The sample archive is password protected – but the file names and types are clearly visible.
Altus Group has been informed about the new development. They are yet to respond or acknowledge the legitimacy of the leaked data, its connection to the earlier incident, or whether or not the ransomware group has reached out to them.
We'll keep you updated when there is new information available, either from the Altus Group, or the Hive ransomware group.