Maze Ransomware group claims 140,000 credit card data belongs to American citizens.
Since its establishment in 1877, Banco de Costa Rica has become not only Costa Rica’s most powerful state-owned commercial bank but it is regarded as the strongest bank in Central America with $7,607,483,881 in assets and $806,606,710 in equity.
See: Best legal & free online streaming sites for movies & TV shows 2020
Targeting such a significant financial entity with ransomware and stealing critical financial data is no ordinary feat that Maze ransomware operators have claimed to achieve not once but twice lately.
Apparently, Banco BCR has been attacked twice in the past eight months by Maze ransomware operators leading to stealing of 11 million credit card credentials, out of which 140,000 are of American citizens while 4 million are unique.
On their data leak website, the Maze ransomware group revealed that they compromised Banco BCR’s network for the first time in August 2019 and stole credentials and other sensitive data. However, they didn’t encrypt the device since the probable damage could have been too much for the bank.
Since the Bank didn’t secure its network after the first attack, the operators exploited it again in February 2020. This time too they didn’t encrypt the data because they believed it wasn’t ethically right during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they boasted about stealing at least a few years of the bank’s data already.
The Maze ransomware group claim that they have informed the bank about their ransom demand, which they believe is a reward for indicating issues in the bank’s security system as it could have led to devastating outcomes for the bank, and may also sell data on the dark web if their demand is not satisfied.
See: Hackers steal 10 TB of data in ransomware attack on energy giant
In their post, the operators stated that they may publish all 11 million credit card numbers if the bank doesn’t install high-security systems to protect its network. To prove it, they also posted an encrypted version of 240 credit card numbers along with their credit card verification codes and expiration dates.
This isn’t the only high-profile data breach that Maze ransomware operators have carried out as previously they have targeted IT giant Cognizant, drug testing service Hammersmith Medicines Research LTD, and cyber insurance service Chubb in a similar manner.
See: Terabytes of OnlyFans data being sold on hacking forum
If you use Banco BCR’s credit card, now it will be a good time to contact the bank and confirm that your account is safe.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Do like our page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.