A recent spate of ransomware attacks estimated to have earned hackers 705.08 Bitcoin (BTC) ($2.5 million) likely came from Russian cybercriminals, not North Korean state-sponsored actors as initially thought. The development was reported on The Next Web’s crypto-focused news site Hard Fork on Jan. 14.
Hard Fork cites evidence from cybersecurity research teams McAfee Labs and Crowdstrike, which have analyzed the strategies used in developing and disseminating the Ryuk ransomware strain, and concluded that the identity and motivations of its masterminds have most likely until now been misreported. The Ryuk campaign notably attracted wide attention following its targeting of major United States media group Tribune Publishing over Christmas.