LockBit Ransomware Reportedly Strikes Venezuela’s Largest Bank

The Banco de Venezuela published a statement about the spread of information on social media that did not refute or confirm the story. On the morning of April 19, Twitter users began discussing how the LockBit ransomware had damaged Banco de Venezuela. Several specialized computer security portals have since confirmed the existence of a publishing on the darknet concerning the bank domain bancodevenezuela[.]com.

LockBit is malicious software that encrypts a victim’s files or data, rendering it inaccessible. The LockBit ransomware criminals then demand a ransom, generally in the form of bitcoin, from the victim in order to decrypt and restore access to their data. It is frequently distributed via phishing emails or brute-force assaults on weak passwords.

According to Banco de Venezuela’s official statement, the ransomware attack appears to have not seized the bank’s platform equipment, as electronic services appear to be operating normally: “We would like to inform you that our platform and electronic channels are operating normally and providing the usual service, with complete integrity and security.”

Still, it’s possible that the assailants have kidnapped all of the information they’ve gathered and are demanding a ransom for it.

Internal bank operations as well as consumer data could be among the information taken. According to the hacker notification, “all available information will be published.”

Aside from the evidence in the released images, no additional information about the gathered data was supplied.

According to LockBit’s portal, the hacking information was uploaded on April 19 at 6:27 a.m. Caracas time. According to the publication, the bank has until May 10 at 2:27 a.m. Caracas time to pay the ransom.

The ransom amount was not released, however LockBit exclusively accepts cryptocurrency payments such as Bitcoin, Monero, or Zcash. For the time being, the information of the Banco de Venezuela remains safe. The bank and its customers’ data will be safe until May 10. If there is a leak, all of the information will be available to anyone who is interested via the dark web.

This could result in a large number of bank users becoming victims of various sorts of cyberattacks. Depending on the importance of the disclosed information, these may include phishing, illegal account access, and possibly extortion.

It is worth noting that Banco de Venezuela is the country’s largest bank. According to the most recent executive board report, the bank administers about 21.7 million bank accounts of various categories across the country. This massive number of accounts has a massive and useful amount of information.

Despite the official statement of the Banco de Venezuela, it has neither denied nor confirmed the attack.