{"id":6309,"date":"2024-11-19T12:54:36","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/vulnerabilities-threats\/russian-ransomware-gangs-hunt-pen-testers"},"modified":"2024-11-19T12:54:36","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:54:36","slug":"russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/19\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian Ransomware Gangs on the Hunt for Pen Testers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt6d90778a997de1cd\/blt86cba088236c6fdf\/64f156b6b873342631cd4ffa\/Penetration_test_Panther_Media_GmbH_Alamy.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Ransomware gangs such as Apos, Lynx, and Rabbit Hole are seeking <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/application-security\/pentesting-as-a-service-cloud-applications\">pen testers<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"> to join their ransomware affiliate programs and assist in their malicious operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Penetration testing, i.e., simulating an attack in order to identify gaps and vulnerabilities within a system, is an essential cyber practice to gauge the strength of a system, program, or operation. Now, according to researchers at Cato Networks in its&nbsp;&#8220;Q3 2024 Cato CTRL SASE Threat Report,&#8221; multiple Russian job listings have sprung up detailing requirements for the same skill set, preferably pen testers with experience in Russian language forums.&nbsp;It is the latest example of the <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/threat-intelligence\/ransomware-professionalization-grows-as-raas-takes-hold\">professionalization of Russian cybercriminal groups<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">&#8220;Ransomware is one of the most pervasive threats in the cybersecurity landscape,&#8221; Etay Maor, chief security strategist at Cato Networks, wrote <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/il\/news-releases\/new-threat-report-from-cato-networks-reveals-ransomware-gangs-recruiting-penetration-testers-to-improve-effectiveness-of-attacks-302309226.html\">in a statement<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">. &#8220;It impacts everyone \u2014 businesses and consumers \u2014 and threat actors are constantly trying to find new ways to make their ransomware attacks more effective.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Other findings in the Cato cyber-threat report include rising threats from <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cyber-risk\/shadow-ai-sensitive-data-exposure-workplace-chatbot-use\">Shadow AI<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">, i.e., unauthorized artificial intelligence programs; and the lack of utilization of Transport Layer Security (TLS), a tool that allows organizations to decrypt, inspect, and re-encrypt traffic, but which poses some risks that prompt organizations to forgo it altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/vulnerabilities-threats\/russian-ransomware-gangs-hunt-pen-testers\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ransomware gangs such as Apos, Lynx, and Rabbit Hole are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":6310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809],"class_list":["post-6309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dark-reading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1",1200,801,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=640%2C428&ssl=1",640,428,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=640%2C428&ssl=1",640,428,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1",1200,801,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1",1200,801,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=1024%2C684&ssl=1",1024,684,true],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?resize=825%2C575&ssl=1",825,575,true],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?resize=590%2C410&ssl=1",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Dark Reading","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/darkreading\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","tag_info":"Uncategorized","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/russian-ransomware-gangs-on-the-hunt-for-pen-testers.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}