The total number of recent victims from the online extortion ring has reached 121 organizations, according to Brett Callow, whose cybersecurity company Emsisoft helps companies respond to digital shakedown attempts. He said that at least 15 million people were affected.Cl0p's identity and location are not publicly known. But security researchers say the group is Russia-linked or Russian-speaking and its name could be a play on the Russian word for"bug.
The group helped pioneer the practice of double-extortion, where cybercriminals take files hostage by encrypting them - then threaten to leak them online unless a payment is made. Japanese cybersecurity firm TrendMicro described cl0p as"a trendsetter for its ever-changing tactics." Plundering file transfer protocols has become increasingly popular as hackers shift from encrypting data to simply stealing files and threatening to release them unless a ransom is paid.
Government departments - including the U.S. Energy Department and the U.K. telecom regulator - have also been hit.