Biglaw

Top Biglaw Firm Removed From Notorious Hackers' Website 1 Day Ahead Of Ransomware Deadline

LockBit threatened to publish the Biglaw firm's data unless it negotiated a price by November 28, and now the firm has been removed from hackers' site on the dark web. What could this mean?

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ransomware-2320941_1280Earlier this month, in the wake of the firm’s approval of its merger with Shearman & Sterling, Allen & Overy found itself the victim of a cyberattack involving confidential data taken from its storage servers. The notorious ransomware group LockBit was the behind the attack, and the hackers threatened to publish the data it took from the firm on November 28, unless A&O “negotiated” — that is, unless the leading law firm was willing to pay up, and the price could be pretty steep.

With just a day left before A&O’s deadline, the law firm has been removed from LockBit’s ransom site on the dark web. What could be the meaning of this? Law.com International has scant details:

A&O has now been taken off this website along with the reference to the November 28 deadline, [a] person [with knowledge of the situation] said, although it is unclear what the significance of this is. It could mean the firm has paid a ransom or it could mean negotiations are ongoing, the person added.

A&O declined to comment beyond its original statement.

“As a matter of priority, we are assessing exactly what data has been impacted, and we are informing affected clients,” an A&O spokesperson previously said of the cybersecurity incident. “We appreciate that this is an important matter for our clients and we take this very seriously.”

Is Allen & Overy now negotiating with the hackers, or did the firm pay the requested ransom, which could have been up to $76 million? We suppose we’ll never know (until someone digs into A&O’s financials).

Allen & Overy Removed from Ransomware Website 1 Day Before ‘Deadline’ [Law.com International]

Earlier: Allen & Overy Hit By Ransomware Cyber Attack

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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