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Hackers appear to have compromised an NSW-based not-for-profit charity providing a range of community support services.
The Space Bears ransomware group has listed community charity Christian Community Aid (CCA) as a victim on its darknet leak site.
The hackers posted about the alleged hack of CCA on 22 January and have threatened to publish the stolen data within 10 days.
According to the post – which has apparently been viewed 829 times as of the time of writing – the data includes “valuable information” in various file types: .jpg, .mp4, .mov, .xls, .doc, .mdf, .msg, and .pdf.
Space Bears does not, as a rule, list the volume of the data it exfiltrates, nor does the gang mention any ransom amount.
Cyber Daily has contacted CCA regarding the alleged incident but has yet to receive a response.
Space Bears is another relatively new group, first appearing in April 2024. The gang is thought to be based in Russia by some analysts, and it presents itself with slick corporate-style branding on its leak site.
The group’s “about” page describes the process Space Bears victims should follow to recover their data.
“If you see that a timer is running in your company’s block, you have a chance to avoid a data leak. To do this, you need to write to us in the ‘CONTACT’ form and indicate your details. Our support team will contact you shortly and help you,” the page said.
“You must understand that there is no time to think, you must make a decision quickly, the timer has started.
“If you see a ‘DOWNLOAD’ button at the bottom of your company’s publication, this means that all data is publicly available.”
Space Bears goes on to “guarantee” that once payment is received, all stolen data will be deleted from the gang’s servers and decryption tools will be provided. The gang also said it will provide “information on how to avoid similar attacks in the future”.
The gang has listed a total of 51 victims since it began operation.
Christian Community Aid is a registered charity based in Eastwood, NSW, and offers aged care, family day care, disability support, community learning and support, and child and family services. CCA’s 2023–24 Annual Report said it had helped 4,928 community members and families, including 601 community learning students, and employed 322 volunteers.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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