Azimut Group, an Italian asset management company managing over $87.2 billion in assets, released a public statement indicating that it would "not comply by any means" with a ransomware demand from the infamous hacking group BlackCat.
On June 21, the ransomware group BlackCat—also called ALPHV—threatened Azimut via the dark web, claiming to have "stolen over 500 GB of potential data," according to a file shared on active ransoms by Ransomware.live.
Ransomware is a type of cyber attack that usually encrypts or steals a victim's files and demands a ransom payment in order to decrypt them. Due to its anonymity, hackers have favored crypto payments.
According to a recent report by blockchain security firm, Chainalysis, payments were down 40% in 2022 compared to the previous year as many victims refused to pay the attackers.
Decrypt has contacted Azimut for comment.
Azimut refuses ransomware payment
The ransom letter by BlackCat allegedly included sensitive photographs of a customer's data, and asserted having access to other customers’ complete financial information, including company reports, details on stocks, and antique purchases.
They threatened to make the "details public" if their demands were not met, reminding that "jokes" with BlackCat "end badly."
The ransom demand letter read that "the only way to avoid this is to make a deal with us."
However, Azimut has already rebuffed their demands.
The Italian investment group acknowledged the presence of "unauthorized access" to its systems but assured clients that customers’ data was safe.
The firm also claimed that the attackers did not access the personal or financial information of clients, or allow the execution of unauthorized transactions.
This isn’t Azimut’s first brush with crypto either.
In 2021, it was one of the first firms to launch a security token linked to a portfolio of loans to corporations.
More recently, the investment group also tokenized one of Luxembourg Investment Fund's private debt strategies in partnership with BNP Paribas and Allfunds Blockchain, increasing its efforts in the decentralized finance space via the tokenization of assets.