Ransomware gangs add DDoS attacks to their extortion arsenal
By Lawrence Abrams
Published: 2020-10-01 · Archived: 2026-04-05 12:41:15 UTC
A ransomware operation has started to utilize a new tactic to extort their victims: DDoS a victim's website until they return
to the negotiation table.
A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is when a threat actor floods a website or a network connection with a large
volume of requests to make a service inaccessible.
After negotiations stalled in a recent ransomware attack, a SunCrypt ransomware affiliate DDoSed a victim's website.
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When the victim logged back into the ransomware's Tor payment site, they were greeted by a message stating that SunCrypt
was responsible for the DDoS and will continue the attack if negotiations do not continue.
"At the moment your website is down due to the efforts of our tech. Please send us a message asap or further actions will be
taken," the SunCrypt ransomware operator warned a victim.
When the victim asked why they were taking their website down, the ransomware operators stated that it was to force
negotiations.
"We were in thr [sic] process on the negotiations and you didn't show up so further actions were taken," the threat actors
stated.
SunCrypt telling victim they are DDoSing the website
Click for larger version
After the victim began ransom negotiations again, the ransomware operator agreed to have the "tech" turn off the DDoS
attack.
SunCrypt agreed to terminate the DDoS attack
MalwareHunterTeam, who shared the chat with BleepingComputer, told us that this tactic ultimately led to the victim paying
the ransom.
This tactic was particularly effective against this victim as they were a smaller organization that was already greatly affected
by the ransomware attack.
By combining data theft, the threat of a data breach, lack of access to encrypted files, and now a DDoS attack, a smaller
victim could have their operation completely shut down.
This is another example of ransomware gangs updating their tactics to increase pressure on their victims so that they feel
there is no choice but to pay the ransom.
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