A ransomware group is demanding a unique form of payment to release data after a breach, with the attackers insisting on the company handing over $125,000 in French baguettes.
Ransomware attacks have become far too common online, with nefarious actors targeting vulnerable institutions like hospitals and schools to ensure they get paid.
In this case, though, the target was a French industrial and energy equipment provider, and the payment requested was… a lot of dough.
Ransomware Group Demands Baguettes
According to reports, Schneider Electric was breached by the ransomware group Hellcat. In the threat that followed, the group demanded that the company pay a meager $125,000 ransom for them to delete the data to avoid an issue.
However, that’s not the story. The story is that Hellcat is demanding the payment be made in baguettes. Yes, the request from the ransomware group is requiring French bread to release the data. I know, we were confused too.
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It turns out, though, that the demand is likely nothing more than a marketing stunt, as the Hellcat ransomware group is actually demanding $125,000 in cryptocurrency. So, why the stunt?
“Ransomware is a business model, and we can think of this bizarre baguette demand as a marketing stunt.” – Hüseyin Can Yuceel, a security researcher at Picus Security, to Forbes
What Did the Hackers Steal?
If you’re wondering whether or not Schneider Electric will be inclined to pay the outrageous ransom price, it’s safe to say that the company is considering it given the amount of data that has been stolen.
“This breach has compromised critical data, including projects, issues, and plugins, along with over 400,000 rows of user data, totaling more than 40GB Compressed Data.” – Hellcat ransomware group statement
For a utilities company like Schneider Electric, this kind of data could be very sensitive, leading them to pay the ransom. That is, of course, if they can get their hands on a baker that can pull it off.
The Consequences of Ransomware
This story is admittedly quite entertaining, given the unique form of payment. However, the reality is that ransomware has become a serious problem in the online world with far reaching consequences you might not realize.
For one, companies that experience these attacks have on average, been down for 24 days after the attack, according to data from Statista. Even worse, the average cost of an attack is more than $1.5 million, which is enough to cripple many businesses on the spot.
On top of all that, research has shown that ransomware is indirectly resulting in the death of at least one American per year, as these attacks can disrupt important systems like medical databases. Suffice to say, ransomware attacks are no laughing matter, even if the form of payment is kind of silly.
