Security News > 2024 > July > Dark Angels ransomware receives record-breaking $75 million ransom
A Fortune 50 company paid a record-breaking $75 million ransom payment to the Dark Angels ransomware gang, according to a report by Zscaler ThreatLabz.
"In early 2024, ThreatLabz uncovered a victim who paid Dark Angels $75 million, higher than any publicly known amount- an achievement that's bound to attract the interest of other attackers looking to replicate such success by adopting their key tactics," reads the 2024 Zscaler Ransomware Report.
Dark Angels is a ransomware operation launched in May 2022 when it began targeting companies worldwide.
Like most human-operated ransomware gangs, Dark Angels operators breach corporate networks and move laterally until they eventually gain administrative access.
In this attack, Dark Angels claimed to have stolen 27 TB of corporate data and demanded a $51 million ransom payment.
Zscaler ThreatLabz says that Dark Angels utilizes the "Big Game Hunting" strategy, which is to target only a few high-value companies in the hopes of massive payouts rather than many companies at once for numerous but smaller ransom payments.