A Perth-based mining company with several ongoing projects has found itself listed as a victim of a recent ransomware attack, with a small selection of sensitive documents that appear to be legitimate already published online.
An affiliate of the INC Ransom hacking group listed Avenira Limited in a 16 December post to its darknet leak site, claiming to have stolen a terabyte of data, including quite a few NDAs.
The hackers have not shared details of their ransom demand, nor the deadline before the data is published, but have shared several documents by way of proof of the alleged data breach.
These include an internal memorandum, mineral exploration findings, confidentiality agreements, signed correspondence, and – as the hackers claimed – a signed non-disclosure agreement with another mining firm.
Avenira has not responded to Cyber Daily’s request for comment.
Who is INC Ransom?
INC Ransom has been around since August 2023 and in that time has claimed 585 victims.
The group is known for using spear phishing tactics to gain initial access and for using double-extortion techniques to pressure its victims, meaning the group exfiltrates data from a victim’s network before encrypting it in place.
The victim must then pay a ransom not only to recover its internal data but also to ensure that it is not published to the darknet or sold to another threat actor.
INC Ransom has claimed a total of 16 Australian victims over the years, with the most recent being Textile supplier Instyle, which was listed by the hackers in early December.
Who is the victim?
Avenira is headquartered in Perth, with another office in West Perth, and is currently involved in a pair of mining projects.
Its Jundee Project in Western Australia comprises several gold mining sites, as well as locations with the potential for securing deposits of lithium and potash, while the company’s Wonarah Phosphate Project is under active development.
The company currently describes itself as “a fertiliser-focused project developer, aiming to establishing [sic] a local, integrated supply chain delivering products into the agricultural and industrial chemical markets”.
David Hollingworth
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.