A ransomware-as-a-service (Raas) known as FunkSec which uses recycled datasets from previous hacks is gaining notoriety due to the number of victims that it has been able to successfully hack. In December alone they successfully carried out over 80 attacks globally targeting entities in the United States, India, Italy, Brazil, Israel, Spain, and Mongolia. FunkSec’s victims do not belong to any single category as they have hacked a travel company, an energy service provider, and a household appliance retailer amongst others. The group typically demanded modest ransoms as low as $10,000 and sold the stolen data at discounted prices.

Analysts feel that this threat actor collective is likely made up of inexperienced hackers seeking recognition. Experts estimate that the development of the group's tools, which also include DDoS, was most likely assisted by artificial intelligence, which may have facilitated their rapid adoption despite the author's apparent lack of technical expertise. Read more about this story on our LinkedIn page