DragonForce Ransomware Gang | From Hacktivists to High Street Extortionists
DragonForce ransomware group is targeting major UK retailers. Learn about this evolving threat and what steps can be taken to mitigate risk. In recent weeks, the DragonForce ransomware group has been targeting UK retailers in a series of coordinated attacks causing major service disruptions. Prominent retailers such as Harrods, Marks and Spencer, and the Co-Op have all reported ongoing incidents affecting payment systems, inventory, payroll and other critical business functions. DragonForce has previously been attributed for a number of notable cyber incidents including attacks on Honolulu OTS (Oahu Transit Services), the Government of Palau, Coca-Cola (Singapore), the Ohio State Lottery, and Yakult Australia. In this post, we offer a high-level overview of the DragonForce group, discuss its targeting, initial access methods, and payloads. We further provide a comprehensive list of indicators and defensive recommendations to help security teams and threat hunters better protect their organizations. Background DragonForce ransomware operations emerged in August 2023, primarily out of Malaysia (DragonForce Malaysia). The group originally positioned itself as a Pro-Palestine hacktivist-style operation; however, over time their goals have shifted and expanded. The modern-day operation is focused on financial gain and extortion although the operation still targets government entities, making it something of a hybrid actor, both politically aligned and profit-motivated. The group operates a multi-extortion model, with victims threatened with data leakage via the group’s data leak sites, alongside reputational damage. Recent DragonForce victims have included government institutions, commercial enterprises, and organizations aligned with specific political causes. The group is also known to heavily target law firms and medical practices. Notably, the group has targeted numerous entities in Israel, India, Saudi Arabia, and more recently several retail outlets in the United Kingdom. Some components of the UK retail attacks have been attributed to an individual affiliated with the loose threat actor collective ‘The Com’, with claims that members are leveraging DragonForce ransomware. Our assessment indicates that the affiliate in question exhibits behavioral and operational characteristics consistent with those previously associated with The Com. However, due to the lack of strong technical evidence and shifting boundaries of The Com, that attribution remains inconclusive and subject to further analysis.
