The original DarkSide ransomware gang had quit its operation last month after the attack on Colonial Pipeline.
In May 2021, the DarkSide ransomware group targeted Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. The attack was so severe that it shut down 5,500 miles of pipeline along the East Coast.
As a repercussion, the group had its servers seized and ransom payments recovered by law enforcement authorities. The group then decided to quit its operation thus, that was the end of the DarkSide ransomware group.
Now, the IT security researchers at Trend Mirco have discovered a new scam campaign in which an “opportunistic low-level attacker” is pretending to be the DarkSide ransomware gang and trying to scam large sum of money from companies in the energy and food industry.
According to researchers, the attacker has been sending emails to companies claming to have breached their servers and access sensitive data. The email further demands ransom of a whopping 100 BTC ($4 million – £5,5 million) and threants to leak supposed data if their demands are not met.
The fake email sent by the scammer
However, unlike the DarkSide ransomware group, the attack fails to show any proof of hack or sample data. It is worth noting that the DarkSide used their website to publish proof of hack or leak data.
