Software AG, Germany's second-largest software company (after SAP) continues to struggle with a ransomware attack that has evolved into an extortion bid carrying a $20 million payoff demand.
The attack began on October 3 as a ransomware attack in which the attackers demanded the unusually high ransom in return for a decryption key. According to reporting from ZDNet, stolen confidential employee information began to be released on the Dark Web on October 9 after negotiations between the company and attackers failed. As of today, Computer Weekly reports that online customer support and internal communications systems remain offline, though customer services are operational.
Criminals attacked using Clop ransomware, first described in the wild in February 2019. Clop is a sophisticated, heavily obfuscated, and still-evolving ransomware strain that shows signs of being specifically designed to target enterprise, rather than individual, victims.