San Francisco 49ers hit by BlackByte ransomware attack which encrypts files on corporate systems

THE San Francisco 49ers NFL team has been reportedly hit by a BlackByte ransomware attack.

The BlackByte ransomware gang works by breaching their victim’s corporate systems, stealing data, and finally encrypting files on the entire system.

GettyThe team has fallen victim to the BlackByte ransomware gang[/caption]

They then demand to be paid a ransom in order to send over a decryptor otherwise they threaten they will release the stolen files.

A spokesperson for the team has confirmed the attack to the Record and said an investigation is underway.

They said: “Upon learning of the incident, we immediately initiated an investigation and took steps to contain the incident.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we believe the incident is limited to our corporate IT network; to date, we have no indication that this incident involves systems outside of our corporate network, such as those connected to Levi’s Stadium operations or ticket holders.

The team added that it has alerted authorities and is currently working with third-party cybersecurity firms to investigate the attack.

“[W]e are working diligently to restore involved systems as quickly and as safely as possible,” they added.

The group behind the attack listed the team as one of their victims on a dark web “leak site” where they usually shame victims and force them to pay.

They started leaking files that they claimed were stolen files.

The leaked data is a 292MB archive of files that the gang claims are 2020 invoices from the team’s network, Bleeping Computer reported.

The operation launched in July 2021 by targeting corporate victims all over the world.

They have so far completed a number of successful attacks