Logistics giant warns of BEC emails following ransomware attack

Hellmann Worldwide is warning customers of an increase in fraudulent calls and emails regarding payment transfer and bank account changes after a recent ransomware attack.

The attack took place on December 9 and forced the logistics company to shut down its systems to contain the spread of the virus.

However, by the time the firm’s IT team responded, the actors had already exfiltrated sensitive files from the accessed servers to be used as a pressure lever in the ransom payment negotiation stage.

Through an update on its site, Hellmann Worldwide admits that the forensic investigation that followed has confirmed a data breach but are still investigating exactly what was stolen.

In the meantime, they are receiving multiple reports from clients who are targeted by actors that exploit the stolen data.

As the company warns in the latest update:

“Please note that the number of so-called fraudulent calls and mails has generally increased. Whilst communication with Hellmann staff via email and telephone remains safe (inbound and outbound), please make sure that you are actually communicating with a Hellmann employee and beware of fraudulent mails/ calls from suspicious sources, in particular regarding payment transfers, change bank account details or the like.”

Hellmann Worldwide is an international logistics firm with a turnover of 2.53 billion Euros ($2.85 billion), 263 offices in 56 countries, 10,601 employees, and handles 16 million shipments per year.

Its partner network is even more extensive, encompassing another 20,500 agents in 489 offices, so the opportunities for BEC (business email compromise) scammers and phishing actors are practically endless.

RansomEXX claiming responsibility

Bleeping Computer has found that the actor responsible for the ransomware attack against Hellmann Worldwide is RansomEXX, a threat group currently undergoing a resurgence.

The actors published all the stolen data on their leak portal, totaling 70.64GB of documents, credentials, correspondence, agreements, orders, etc.

The publication of these files is an indication that the negotiations for the payment of a ransom have been concluded unsuccessfully.

Also, the fact that all this sensitive data is offered for download to anyone is directly relevant to the uptick in fraud calls and emails reported by Hellmann Worldwide.

Some notable ransomware incidents attributed to RansomEXX this year include attacks against:

• French health insurance company MNH
• Ecuador’s state-run telco CNT
• Italy’s COVID-19 vaccination registration portal
• Taiwanese motherboard maker Gigabyte

In September this year, cybersecurity firm Profero released a working decryptor for RansomEXX infections, which may help victims of specific Linux-targeting strains.