Behind this cyberattack is Blackcat, a group of hackers who sell very easy-to-use cyberattack software at low prices and whose activity has increased significantly in recent years.
Newsroom (29/10/2022 2:38 PM, Gaudium Press) — Caritas of the Diocese of Munich, an association with 10,000 employees, was recently the victim of a cyber attack, reports Katholisch.de.
A large amount of data, some of it potentially sensitive, was stolen from Caritas. The criminals demanded a ransom so that the data would not be distributed.
Behind this cyberattack is Blackcat, a group of hackers who sell very easy-to-use cyberattack software at low prices and whose activity has increased significantly in recent years.
Caritas Munich has made it clear that they will not pay the ransom and have already set up an alternative infrastructure.
Caritas is not the only Catholic association that has been a victim of this kind of attack: The Vatican also apparently suffered targeted attacks from a group of hackers called ‘Mustang Panda,’ allegedly close to the Chinese state, during the summer of 2020.
The Vatican, the Diocese of Hong Kong and other institutions were affected. The China Center in Sankt Augustin, near Bonn, was also reportedly targeted. In response, Catholic institutions are beginning to train their employees on best practices to counter these cyberattacks, but most importantly, to guard against the serious consequences they can have. “One wrong click can result in damage of several hundred thousand euros,” says the cybersecurity manager of the Munich diocese.
– Raju Hasmukh with files from Aleteia
