San Francisco 49ers hit by BlackByte ransomware attack

The San Francisco 49ers NFL team fell victim to BlackByte ransomware attack and has its corporate files encrypted. The same was confirmed when BlackByte listed 49ers team among the list of victims on their data leak website.

BlackByte ransomware pushes victim to pay ransom by shaming them and demanding extortion-based demands.

What is BlackByte Ransomware attack?

The BlackByte ransomware gang is a small hacker organization that is still active, and operates on the Ransomware-as-a-Service model where they work with affiliates by renting out their ransomware program and later these affiliates perform intrusion attacks on organizations and deploy the BlackByte ransomware into the company’s network.

BlackByte ransomware was seen to be performing double extortion attacks where the encrypt the files and also steal them, threatening organizations that they will leak the data into the wild if their ransom demands are not met in the given time.

The first version of BlackByte ransomware wasn’t so strong that TrustWave was able to develop a free decryptor for the ransomware attack. However, the recent version of BlackByte ransomware has affected multiple US and foreign organizations including US critical infrastructure of federal, financial, food and agriculture entities.

A recent security alert document released by FBI just before this BlackByte ransomware attack on 49ers might have been a warning form the authorities on potential attack from the BlackByte ransomware operators.

How is 49ers reacting to the BlackByte ransomware attack?

As soon as the 49ers learnt about the ransomware incident they started investigating and contained the spread of the attack. As of now the 49ers confirmed that the attack is only limited to their corporate network and their ticket holders or the stadium operations is not affected by the BlackByte ransomware.

The spokesperson of 49ers mentioned that they have intimated Law Enforcement about the incident and are currently working a third-party cybersecurity firms to investigate the attack in detail. Furthermore, they are also looking to restore their corporate systems back to normal.

If 49ers qualified for the Super Bowl LVI, the BlackByte ransomware incident could have been catastrophic for the team as it would have affected the team’s preparation for the game, could have created a huge buzz on ransomware again to the US media cycle.

Although, the attack and its modus operandi is not known yet, the current incident may affect the team’s next NFL season in the NFL combine event or the NFL Draft.

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