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Italy Cyberattacks: Three Companies Targeted in 24 Hours by RansomHub, RansomHouse

Italy Ransomware Attack

Hackers have claimed three prominent cyberattacks in Italy in the last 24 hours. The Italy ransomware attacks were allegedly carried out by the RansomHub and RansomHouse groups. RansomHub targeted the websites of the Cloud Europe and Mangimi Fusco firms, while RansomHouse took credit for orchestrating a cyberattack on Francesco Parisi.

Details of Italy ransomware attacks

Cloud Europe is a Tier IV certified carrier-neutral data center located in Rome’s Tecnopolo Tiburtino. According to details on the company website, it specializes in the design and management of data centers, with particular attention to the problems of security and service continuity. The company builds, hosts and manages modular infrastructure for customer data centers in the private and public sectors. [caption id="attachment_79490" align="alignnone" width="1173"]Italy ransomware attack Source: X[/caption] The threat actor RansomHub claimed to have encrypted the servers of Cloud Europe, exfiltrating more than 70 TB of its data. “In addition, we have stolen over 541.41 GB of your sensitive data, obtained access to another company from your sensitive transformations,” RansomHub stated on its site. The other company targeted by RansomHub is Mangimi Fusco, which is an animal food manufacturer. It also supplies farm products and raw materials to wholesale merchants. According to the ransomware group, it has stolen 490 GB of “Private and confidential data, client documents, budget, payroll, accounting, contracts, taxes, IDs, finance information, etc…we give you three days to come for negotiations.” [caption id="attachment_79491" align="alignnone" width="1189"]Italy ransomware attack Source: X[/caption] Meanwhile, RansomHouse has allegedly breached the website of Francesco Parisi, which is a group of freight forwarding and shipping agents. It was established by Francesco Parisi in Trieste and has been operating in Central Europe since 1807. The group has around 100 employees and has a revenue of $13.7 million. The ransomware group claims that it stole 150 GB of the company’s data on May 29. [caption id="attachment_79492" align="alignnone" width="1491"]Italy ransomware attack Source: X[/caption] Despite these claims, a closer inspection reveals that that the websites of Cloud Europe and Mangimi Fusco seem to be functioning normally, showing no signs of the ransomware attack as alleged by the threat actor. However, Francesco Parisi has put up a disclaimer on its home site which reads, “Important notice: Hacker Attack. We are aware that are infrastructure was subjected to a hacker attack. We want to reassure our users, customers and suppliers that we have immediately taken the necessary measures to restore operations and protect their data. Safety is a top priority. We are working hard to investigate the incident and implement additional security measures to prevent future attacks. We apologize for any inconvenience this event may have caused. We will keep you informed of developments in the situation and will let you know as soon as we have further information. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. Thank you for understanding.” [caption id="attachment_79494" align="alignnone" width="1196"]Italy ransomware attack Source: X[/caption] Meanwhile, The Cyber Express has reached out to both Cloud Europe and Mangimi Fusco regarding the purported cyberattack orchestrated by the RansomHub group. However, at the time of publication, no official statements or responses have been received, leaving the claims of the ransomware cyberattack on these entities unverified.

Inglorious Past of RansomHub, RansomHouse

The origins of RansomHub trace back to February 2024, when it emerged as a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) on cybercrime forums. They employ sophisticated encryption techniques and target organizations predominantly in the IT & ITES sector. RansomHub has hackers from various global locations united by a common goal of financial gain. The gang openly mentions prohibiting attacks on non-profit organizations. RansomHouse emerged in March 2022 and is labelled as a multi-pronged extortion threat. In the words of RansomHouse representatives, the group claims to not encrypt data and that they are ‘extortion only,’ claiming itself as a ‘force for good’ that intends ‘shine a light’ on companies with poor security practices. The group has been observed accepting only Bitcoin payments.  Media Disclaimer: This report is based on internal and external research obtained through various means. The information provided is for reference purposes only, and users bear full responsibility for their reliance on it. The Cyber Express assumes no liability for the accuracy or consequences of using this information.

“Substantial proportion” of Americans may have had health and personal data stolen in Change Healthcare breach

UnitedHealth Group has given an update on the February cyberattack on Change Healthcare, one of its subsidiaries. In the update, the company revealed the scale of the breach, saying:

“Based on initial targeted data sampling to date, the company has found files containing protected health information (PHI) or personally identifiable information (PII), which could cover a substantial proportion of people in America.”

UnitedHealth also announced support for affected people.

On Wednesday February 21, 2024, Change Healthcare experienced serious system outages due to the cyberattack. The incident led to widespread billing outages, as well as disruptions at pharmacies across the United States.

The attack on Change Healthcare, which processes about 50% of US medical claims, was one of the worst ransomware attacks against American healthcare and caused widespread disruption in payments to doctors and health facilities.

Despite the ongoing investigation, which expectedly will take several more months of detailed analysis, UnitedHealth said it had decided to immediately provide support. The company says it continues to monitor the regular web and the dark web for any published data.

The chief executive of UnitedHealth Group, Andrew Witty, is expected to testify in Congress in May about the matter. Meanwhile the company says it has made strong progress restoring services impacted by the event and is prioritizing the restoration of services that impact patient access to care or medication.

Affected people can visit a dedicated website at changecybersupport.com to get more information, or call 1-866-262-5342 to set up free credit monitoring and identity theft protection.

Protecting yourself from a data breach

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

  • Check the vendor’s advice. Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened, and follow any specific advice they offer.
  • Change your password. You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
  • Enable two-factor authentication (2FA). If you can, use a FIDO2-compliant hardware key, laptop or phone as your second factor. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
  • Watch out for fake vendors. The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims, and verify any contacts using a different communication channel.
  • Take your time. Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.
  • Set up identity monitoring. Identity monitoring alerts you if your personal information is found being traded illegally online, and helps you recover after.

Check your digital footprint

Malwarebytes has a new free tool for you to check how much of your personal data has been exposed online. Submit your email address (it’s best to give the one you most frequently use) to our free Digital Footprint scan and we’ll give you a report and recommendations.


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