Security News > 2022 > May > Conti: Russian-backed rulers of Costa Rican hacktocracy?

The notorious Russian-aligned Conti ransomware gang has upped the ante in its attack against Costa Rica, threatening to overthrow the government if it doesn't pay a $20 million ransom.

Costa Rican president Rodrigo Chaves said that the country is effectively at war with the gang, who in April infiltrated the government's computer systems, gaining a foothold in 27 agencies at various government levels.

Conti claimed this week that it has insiders in the Costa Rican government, the AP reported, warning that "We are determined to overthrow the government by means of a cyber attack, we have already shown you all the strength and power, you have introduced an emergency."

Cybersecurity firm Fortinet has discovered a variant of the Chaos ransomware that professes support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but appears to have no decryption key to rescue victims in Putin's regime.

The variant appears to have been compiled with Chaos' GUI customization tool as recently as May 16, Fortinet said.

The researchers said they're unsure how the Chaos variant infects its victims, and said the variant doesn't act any differently than typical Chaos ransomware.

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https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/05/21/in_brief_security/