Russia-Linked BlackMatter Gang Demands $5.9 Million in Ransom From Iowa Grain Cooperative

BlackMatter also hit Marketron with an attack, Authorities arrest 106 people in Spain for alleged SIM swapping and BEC, Epik breach impacts 15m users, iOS 15 has lock screen bypass, much more

In a test of Joe Biden’s ultimatum that Russia rein in its ransomware actors, a Russia-linked ransomware group called BlackMatter launched an attack last Friday against a grain cooperative in Iowa called New Cooperative. The cooperative is considered to be in a protected critical infrastructure sector, food and agriculture, that Biden seeks to protect.

However, in a conversation with Bloomberg, Black Matter says that while it steers clear of hospitals, the defense industry, and the government, “The volumes of [the grain cooperative] do not correspond to the volume to call them critical.”

BlackMatter is linked to the ransomware group DarkSide, which attacked Colonial Pipeline earlier this year. The threat actors are demanding a $5.9 million ransom. New Cooperative, which has over 50 locations across Iowa and is among the larger crop buyers from its farmer members, says it is working with authorities to resolve the situation. In the meantime, it is reportedly trying to create workarounds…