The Olympus camera giant said yesterday that it was investigating a possible cyber security incident affecting its European computer network, as well as the Middle East and Africa.
According to the announcement of the company Olympus, as soon as they detected the suspicious activity, they mobilized the cyber security team and are trying to solve the problem. As part of the investigation, they report that they have suspended the transfer of data to the affected systems and have informed the relevant external partners.
However, information from an insider companys with knowledge of the incident say Olympus is "recovering" from a ransomware attack that began in the early hours of September 8. It goes on to say that there is a ransom note left by the criminals on the infected computers, which appears to be from the BlackMatter ransomware group.
The ransom note also includes a web address on a site accessible only through the Tor Browser, known to be used by the BlackMatter team to communicate with its victims.
Η BlackMatter is a ransomware-as-a service group, which was founded as the successor to several ransomware groups, including DarkSide, which recently ceased operations after high profile ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, as well as REvil, which has been silent for months after the attack on Kaseya that flooded hundreds Companies with ransomware. Both attacks attracted the attention of the US government, which promised to take action, so that no critical infrastructure is hit again.
Teams like BlackMatter act as ransomware-as-a-service, meaning they rent access to their infrastructure, which other teams use to launch attacks, while BlackMatter receives whatever ransom is paid.
A common tactic of BlackMatter, as well as other ransomware groups, is usually to steal data from a company's network before encrypting it, and later threaten to post the files online if the ransom is paid.encryption will not be paid.
Japan-based Olympus now manufactures technology visualand digital respproduction for medical industries. Until recently, the company made digital cameras and other electronics, until it sold its camera division in January 2021.
