Intelligence | Business Upturn

Lockbit claims resurgence after global police takedown

Eesha Chakraborty — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 03:17:29 +0000

In a surprising turn of events, the notorious cybercrime group Lockbit, known for its use of ransomware to extort victims, claims to be operational again following a recent international takedown effort by law enforcement agencies.

Earlier in February, a coordinated operation led by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) targeted Lockbit. This unprecedented effort resulted in arrests, indictments, and the seizure of the group’s infrastructure, effectively taking them offline.

However, in a recent statement, Lockbit asserts that they have restored their servers and are back in business. They claim their “backup blogs,” which are believed to be alternative platforms for leaking stolen data from victims, were unaffected by the takedown due to their use of a different programming language. This statement, posted on a newly established dark website, further asserts that stolen data leaks will continue.

The NCA, however, disputes Lockbit’s claims. They maintain that the group remains “completely compromised” and emphasize their ongoing efforts to disrupt Lockbit’s activities. Additionally, they acknowledge the possibility of the group attempting to rebuild and regroup, highlighting the vast amount of intelligence gathered about Lockbit and its associates.

While the group claims partial functionality, the effectiveness of the police operation and the extent of Lockbit’s capabilities are still under investigation. Cybersecurity experts continue to advise organizations to remain vigilant and implement robust defenses against the ever-present threat of ransomware attacks.

BharatPe slaps a pink slip on its head of controls Madhuri Grover: Report

Mymun Malik — Wed, 23 Feb 2022 05:25:37 +0000

One of the largest aggregators of transactions BhartaPe comes into the limelight for the wrong reasons. The Head of Controls Madhuri Jain Grover has come under the scanner for swindling the company of close to Rs 55 crores and incurring losses to the company of Rs 10 crores.

According to MoneyControl, BharatPe’s lawyers wanted to clear the air with her as soon as they got hold of this information. She denies any such episode and says people are using her as the ‘object’.

Apparently, Madhuri had scooped out the company’s funds stating she was paying a recruitment agency to hire consultants for BhatratPe, which never existed confirms the risk management firm Alvarez and Marsal.

There were a lot of discrepancies in their transactions when dealing with vendors and hence the report revealed the math not being correct. In several instances, it was Madhuri who had received the invoices herself for payments and sent them for approval by the accounts team.

Moving on, these false invoices were made by Shwetank Jain who is Madhuri’s sibling, and took the payments as recruitment spends. The payments sent to vendors never had any website or an online presence.

According to the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) had carried out a thorough scan at BharatPe’s head office on 21st October 2021. When the DGGI questioned Madhuri’s Brother-in-law Deepak Gupta, about the remittances to the vendors, He said that the vendors never existed.

The report further said that total expenditure of Rs 53.25 crore was made towards these 30 vendors that did not exist and the company incurred a loss of Rs 10.97 crore in these dealings.

SIS Ltd to buyback shares worth Rs 100 crore to reward shareholders

Sanah Shah — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:15:13 +0000

Security and Intelligence Services (SIS) Ltd, a private security firm in India, Australia and New Zealand on Monday 15th February declared a Rs 100 crore share buyback program with the purpose of rewarding shareholders.

The security, facility management and cash logistics solutions provider had a very fruitful year for cash flows, generating over Rs 550 crore of operating cash flow within the first nine months of FY2. The company in statement said that this buyback is planned as a decompensation for shareholders who have supported SIS over the years.

In a regulatory stock exchange filing, the company set up by Ravindra Kishore Sinha, stated that its board has agreed to the buyback of 18,18,181 shares at a price of Rs 550 per share which is a 31% premium above the closing price on Friday 12th February.

The shares being bought amount to 1.23% of the total number of fully paid-up equity shares.

SIS is a $1.2 billion Indian multinational with operations across nations — India, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. The company services more than 7,000 clients in over 18,500 sites spread throughout 630 districts in India.

The stock price of SIS on the NSE was Rs 423.70 as of Monday 15th February, 3:30 PM (market closing) IST.