Ransomeware attacks are nothing new, but what are they? To put it simply, it’s when an individual or group of hackers targets a person or company and locks them out of performing a task on their systems until they have been given a certain sum of money. Now, quite a major one has recently taken place in America as Kia Motors America has been subject to a $20 million ransomware attack, with Hyundai North America also involved in the attack. This comes just a day after Kia in the US also suffered a nationwide IT outage.
The Ransom Demands $20 Million From Kia Motors America
The attack, reported by BleepingComputer, is allegedly being carried out by the DoppelPaymer ransomware gang. The gang produced a ransom note that was obtained by BleepingComputer and that note is demanding $20 million for them to call off their attack. The note contains a link that then goes to a private victim page on the DoppelPaymer Tor payment site, stating that the target of this attack is Hyundai North America. However, Hyundai, Kia’s parent company, is not currently affected.
That could easily change, however. The hackers have stated that a large amount of data from Kia America has been stolen and that they will release whatever it is that they have taken in 2-3 weeks if Kia does not negotiate with them. The actual demands for the $20 million come in the form of 404 Bitcoins. If the ransom is not paid in time, then that amount increases to 600 Bitcoins, which is roughly $30 million. A lot of Kia services are affected, so we can only assume a lot of data has been taken.
Hyundai Might Have Been Caught In The Attack
DoppelPaymer is known for this kind of attack. BleepingComputer states that organizations such as Newcastle University, Hall County in Georgia, and the City of Torrance in California have also been subject to very similar attacks. Despite not being directly affected, Hyundai has served several unusual outages at the same time as the Kia attack, though whether they are related to the Kia attack is currently unknown. This comes just a day after Kia launched their new K8 as they look to drive home the company's new and exciting future.
Sources: BleepingComputer, Kia