LockBit Hacked Montreal's Electricity Supplier

Uploaded on 2023-09-11 in GOVERNMENT-Local, FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Production-Utilities

LockBit the criminal ransomware group, which is one of the most active gangs in the cyber threat landscape, has recently hacked the Quebec organisation Commission des services electriques de Montréal (CSEM), located in the city of Montreal. The Canadian company has confirmed that it has refused to pay the $2million ransom beig demanded.

CSEM the electric provider, which is responsible for the network of 770 kilometers of pipes through which the electrical, telephone and cable wires pass. CSEM confirmed the security breach, and confirmed the attack took place on August 3rd, 2023.

The Lockbit ransomware gang continues to dominate headlines and cause concern among cyber security experts with a wavee of high profile attacks on critical organisations, governments and businesses, including British Royal Mail and the Japanese Port of Nagoya.

The CSEM’s mission is to provide a safe, reliable, and sustainable underground electrical network for the city of Montreal. The main activities carried out by the organisation are planning and coordinating the undergrounding of electrical wires, managing and maintaining the underground electrical network, and providing information and education about underground electrical networks.

The organisation immediately launched an investigation into the security breach with the help of law enforcement in Quebec. At the time of this writing, CSEM has recovered impacted systems. CSEM has downplayed the the security breach’s effects saying that CSEM projects are the subject of public documents.

“It should be noted that all CSEM projects are the subject of public documents. Therefore, all these plans, engineering, construction and management, are already publicly available through the official process offices in Quebec.” the company said in a statement.

LockBit's typicall modus operandi is to demand a $multimillion, payable in cryptocurrencies such as BTC or Monero and its malware has undergone continued adaptation of its malware with the current version LockBit 3.0 emerging in 2022.

CSEM: Security Affairs: The Record: Facebook: TEISS: Cybersecurity Insiders: IT Nerd:

ICS Strive: Cyber Security Ventures Image: Kelly Leonard

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