These are the most dangerous hacker groups in 2023

Hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated when it comes to attacking companies. There have already been a number of victims of cyber attacks this year. We introduce you to the six most dangerous hacker groups in 2023.

In 2023 there were countless cyber attacks on companies. The victims in Germany include, for example, Bavarian Radio, Hamburg Airport or the Motel One chain. The attacks are also becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Cyber ​​criminals worldwide primarily rely on ransomware and ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) as their preferred means of attack. In order to get a more accurate picture of the current threat situation, the IT company OpenText has identified the current malware trends and created a ranking of the currently most dangerous hacker groups.

These are the most dangerous hacker groups

This is the sixth time the cybersecurity experts have been examining the hacker landscape. They discovered that four new ransomware groups were added this year. In addition, the average amount of ransom demands has skyrocketed to around $750 million.

1. CL0p

This hacker group gained media attention in the past after carrying out a series of cyber attacks on well-known companies such as Shell, BBC and the United States Department of Energy. To do this, they used a zero-day vulnerability in the MOVEit Transfer software program.

2. Black Cat

Black Cat made headlines with attacks on the MGM Casino Resorts. The group uses the Rust programming language for its RaaS platform. OpenText IT experts believe that Black Cat is the successor to the REvil ransomware group.

3. Akira

This ransomware group appears to primarily target small and medium-sized businesses. Among other things, they used Cisco VPN products for their attacks, which they used to penetrate corporate networks, steal data and encrypt systems.

4. Royal

The Royal hacker group uses whitehat penetration testing tools to move laterally through the target network and gain overall control. According to OpenText, the partial encryption approach is unique: This allows cyber criminals to only encrypt a selected part of the data in a file.

5. LockBit 3.0

LockBit 3.0 has been in the rankings for a long time. The group continues to cause extensive damage and remains stubbornly present among the most active and dangerous hackers. However, they are now considered more modular and even more difficult to grasp.

6. Black Enough

As one of the most active RaaS groups, Black Basta has made a name for itself with attacks that seem to follow neither a prey scheme nor specific industry preferences. Just like Akira, this hacker group is also generally considered the successor to the well-known Conti gang.

The most dangerous hackers: Fewer companies pay ransom demands

However, the OpenText analysis not only resulted in the ranking of the most dangerous hacker groups. At the same time, it also became apparent that companies are now less likely to agree to pay ransoms.

Only around 34 percent comply with the hackers’ requests. This trend suggests that more and more companies are recognizing the threat and investing in cyber security, according to the experts.

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