ADATA struck by Ragnar Locker ransomware attack

Details are still slim over both the attack and its followup

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Leading Taiwan-basedmemoryand storage manufacturerADATAwas forced to take its systems offline after it was targeted by aransomwareattack in late May, the company has admitted.

Ranked amongst the topDRAMandSSDmanufacturers, ADATA also manufacturesmobile accessories,gaming products, as well as electric power trains, and industrial solutions.

In an email toBleeping Computer, ADATA confirmed that it was hit by a ransomware attack on May 23, 2021, and responded by taking down all impacted systems and notifying all relevant international authorities of the incident.

The attack is significant also because of its timing, as it comes in the midst of the ongoingchip shortage. With manufacturers struggling to keep pace with the demands, any downtime could further delay the industry’s recovery.

Chip vendors have become a lucrative target for ransomware operators, who can use the threat of downtime, which can prove to be a lotmore costlyin these turbulent times than the ransom, as another bargaining chip.

Missing details

Crucially though, ADATA did not name the threat actors behind the ransomware operation, nor did it provide any details about the ransom demands.

However,Bleeping Computersays that the Ragnar Locker ransomware gang has already claimed that it was behind the ADATA attack. In fact, the gang claims to have made away with 1.5TB of sensitive data from ADATA’s computers.

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Reportedly, the Ragnar Locker has also posted screenshots of the stolen files in order to prove their claims, even as they continue to threaten to leak the rest of the data if the ransom isn’t paid.

ADATA however claims that its business operations are no longer disrupted and that it is busy restoring the affected devices.

But as has become the norm with most such ransomware disclosures, ADATA, in its email toBleeping Computer, didn’t mention whether it has given in to the demands of the threat actors and paid the ransom to garner control over its network and data.

ViaBleeping Computer

With almost two decades of writing and reporting on Linux, Mayank Sharma would like everyone to think he’sTechRadar Pro’sexpert on the topic. Of course, he’s just as interested in other computing topics, particularly cybersecurity, cloud, containers, and coding.

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