The NRA Has Been Hacked by Cybercriminal Gang Called Grief: Reports

Isabella James, Tech Times 28 October 2021, 02:10 am

The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been hacked, according to reports. A cybercriminal gang called Grief is allegedly behind the hack and has stolen data from the NRA.

Samples of the stolen data have been shared by the gang on the dark web and screenshots of which have been shared on social media. According to reports, the gang has demanded ransom and has even threatened to release more of the stolen data should the ransom not be paid.

Grief is believed to be related to a Russian-based cybercriminal gang called Evil Corp. Evil Corp is known to be behind the Dridex malware.

NRA Has Allegedly Been Hacked

Grief ransomware group has ransomed the National Rifle Association (NRA). pic.twitter.com/f591I8oh0v
— vx-underground (@vxunderground) October 27, 2021

The NRA has been hacked by a cybercriminal group called Grief, according to reports. Data stolen from the NRA have been shared by the gang on the dark web. Screenshots of the alleged NRA files have been going around online, even on Twitter. According to a report by NBC, the cybercriminal gang "posted 13 files to its website Wednesday and claimed to have hacked the NRA." Per NBC, certain files that have allegedly been stolen by Grief are related to NRA grants. These include grant proposal forms and a list of recipients.

The hack can be considered a ransomware attack as Grief is "threatening to release more of the files if not paid, though it did not publicly state how much," according to the NBC report.

Grief Cybercriminal Gang

The cybercriminal gang behind the alleged NRA ransomware attack is said to be a "rebranded effort by a group of Russian cybercriminals who previously used the nickname Evil Corp, which is currently under sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department." According to a report by Gizmodo, Evil Corp is known to be behind the Dridex malware that was infamously used to harvest login credentials from banks and financial institutions. Per the NBC report, neither Evil Corp nor Grief are known to bluff and take credit for an operation that is not theirs.

Ransomware Attacks in 2021

“NRA does not discuss matters relating to its physical or electronic security. However, the NRA takes extraordinary measures to protect information regarding its members, donors, and operations – and is vigilant in doing so.”–Andrew Arulanandam, managing dir., NRA Public Affairs
— NRA (@NRA) October 27, 2021

As of press time, the NRA has yet to confirm that it has fallen victim to a ransomware attack. It has, however, published a tweet on its Twitter account stating that it does not discuss matters related to security.

The NRA has also said in its tweet that it is vigilant in protecting the information of members and donors.

Should it be confirmed, the alleged ransomware attack on the NRA is the latest addition to the growing list of ransomware attacks that happened this year.

Ransomware attacks this year have focused on different companies and organizations in the United States. An example of a recent ransomware attack happened last month and targeted Olympus.

It was reported early this month ransomware hackers were arrested in Ukraine. The two hackers are known to have targeted businesses in North America as well as in Europe.

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Written by Isabella James