After three weeks of negotiations following the cyberattack on Royal Mail, the LockBit hacker group has demanded a £65.7 million ransom from the UK’s primary postal service provider.
The Royal Mail had fallen victim to a ransomware attack by the LockBit hacking group, resulting in the encryption of its data. The attack caused Royal Mail to urgently work to restore overseas parcel deliveries, with customers only being able to send parcels and letters overseas through the company’s website.
However, sending packages abroad from Post Offices across the UK remains impossible. The negotiations between the hackers and Royal Mail broke down after three weeks, with the hackers demanding a £65.7mn ransom from the postal company.
The LockBit group insisted on receiving 0.5% of the revenues of “Royal Mail International,” which referred to the annual sales of the parent company International Distribution Services.
Despite the company’s profitable international parcel business, Royal Mail is struggling due to declining letters business and ongoing strikes. The postal group’s board rejected the demand, which has put the company at risk of a potential large-scale data leak.
Royal Mail data breach: What’s at stake?
The hackers have threatened to release a significant amount of the company’s data, which has made Royal Mail seek alternative solutions to maintain operations.
However, Royal Mail has cautioned that international deliveries may experience longer than normal delays. Despite no official confirmation from Royal Mail, it appears that LockBit successfully breached the UK postal service provider’s cybersecurity measures and encrypted its data.
Ransomware attacks, such as the one by Royal Mail, have become increasingly common in recent years, with businesses globally facing similar attacks.
These attacks highlight the need for companies to continuously invest in cybersecurity measures to maintain their systems’ integrity. The LockBit group is a relatively new but prolific player in the criminal syndication model called “Ransomware as a Service.”
In this model, hackers share methods and bespoke malware with junior hackers and step in to help negotiations when they snag a major target.
This cyberattack is the largest known target of LockBit, and security experts believe that the group will become the largest of its kind globally by 2023.
The hack’s impact could have serious consequences for the postal service provider, its customers, and the UK’s national security. Therefore, companies must remain vigilant and implement robust cybersecurity measures to mitigate the risk of a cyber-attack.