FBI alerts Silent Ransom Group targeting US law firms

A cybercrime group known as the Silent Ransom Group is targeting U.S. law firms with an unusual tactic that includes impersonating IT support staff and, in some cases, sending individuals to victims' offices to gain physical access to computers, according to a new FBI alert issued Tuesday. The group, which is also tracked as Luna Moth, Chatty Spider, and UNC3753, has been active since at least 2022 and has consistently focused on law firms since mid-2023.

The FBI said the group's social engineering scheme involves phone calls or phishing emails that urge employees to contact fake IT support. During these interactions, employees are pressured to grant remote desktop access to their computers. If this remote attempt fails, the group sends an associate to the victim's location. This individual claims they need to create a backup or image the system due to a purported security issue, then physically inserts a storage device into the workstation to copy data.

After gaining access, the group steals sensitive data and uses it for extortion, threatening to sell or publish the information on a leak site unless a ransom is paid. The attackers also contact employees or clients of victim...