Qilin Offers Call a lawyer Button For Affiliates Attempting To Extort Ransoms From Victims Who Wont Pay Tripwire

pImagine for one moment that you are a cybercriminalppYou have compromised an organisations network you have stolen their data you have encrypted their network and you are now kneedeep in the ransomware negotiationppHowever theres a problem Your target is stalling for time Who can you as the perpetrator of the crime rather than the innocent victim turn to for adviceppWell if you are an affiliate of the Qilin ransomware group you can simply hit the Call Lawyer buttonppBecause as researchers at Cybereason have revealed Qilin has introduced a number of new features for its partnersincrimeppAnd these include a legal assistance optionppIn a posting on a Russian darknet forum Qilin is described as having added legal support services to its portfolio in an apparent effort to woo affiliates and project a veneer of professionalismppFrom their dashboard Qilin affiliates can contact the groups oncall legal eagles to provide guidance that may assist with the extraction of a ransom from the extorted companyppA translation of the posting readsppThe mere presence of a lawyer in the chat exerts indirect pressure on the company and the ransom amount due to the companys reluctance to engage in legal proceedings and associated costsppThe post continues to describe the advantages of working with Qilins legal departmentppIn a nutshell Qilin believes that its affiliates will be more successful in extract a ransom demand and therefore generating more illicit revenue for itself as well by communicating more persuasively and professionallyppIn the past ransomware gangs have filed SEC complaints in order to pressure corporate victims who have refused to negotiate and Qilins offer to affiliates of legal counsel feels like the latest evolution of such tacticsppQilin also claims to have an inhouse team of journalists who can help affiliates write text for blog posts and assist those less versed in composing threatening messages on how to apply pressure during ransom negotiationsppDevelopments in the world of ransomware like this signal just how far criminal gangs have come in presenting themselves almost as though they were legitimate service providersppMake no mistake though Their goal is just to attract more affiliates increase the success rate of ransomware attacks and try to convince victims that they are dealing with sophisticated criminalsppEditors Note The opinions expressed in this and other guest author articles are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of FortrappLearn how to beat cybercriminals ransomware businessp