[BreachExchange] Criminals use Sekhmet ransomware to hit gas company SilPac twice

[Destry Winant]

https://www.itwire.com/security/criminals-use-sekhmet-ransomware-to-hit-gas-company-silpac-twice.html

Cyber criminals have used a little known ransomware, Sekhmet, to
attack SilPac, a gas handling solutions company based in Santa Clara,
California, with indications that the attackers retained their access
to the company's systems after the initial encryption was completed.

The Sekhmet website said SilPac had been attacked on 20 June and data
exfiltrated, in what is becoming a standard tactic.

Sekhmet only works on Windows systems as is the case with common ransomware.

The site said the company's data had been encrypted twice, once after
specialists had begun restoring the initially encrypted data and
making a bid to track the ransomware group.

Ransomware threat analyst Brett Callow told iTWire that this case was
interesting as it again illustrated the fact that the attackers had
retained access to the target network after the encryption.

"The only was sure-fire way to remediate in these cases is to rebuild
the network. If companies do not do that, there is a chance that the
actor will continue to have access to their network, monitor their
response to the incident and possibly encrypt their data for a second
time," added Callow who works for the New Zealand-headquartered
security outfit Emsisoft.

On its blog, the people behind Sekhmet claim to be IT specialists and
also say they are the only group that phones their victims to
communicate, as email servers are often taken down by their attacks.

SilPac was founded in October 2000. The company has been contacted for
comment through the only vehicle for communication it offers which is
a Web form that is optimised for US- or Canada-specific details.

Sekhmet has released an archive of data which it claims is from
SilPac, adding that a password for the archive will be released on 28
June.