Cencora Pays Record $75 Million Bitcoin Ransom to Hackers

The pharmaceutical giant Cencora, victimized by a cyberattack in February, has paid a record $75 million in bitcoin to the operators of the Dark Angels ransomware. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing informed sources.

According to these sources, the payments were made in three installments in March. The initial ransom demand was $150 million.

Cencora representatives declined to comment on “speculation and rumors.” They added that the cybersecurity-related expenses are detailed in the company’s quarterly reports. According to documents from March and July, the amounts involved were “most of” $28.5 million and $31.3 million. It remains unclear what these funds specifically covered in relation to the breach.

Two months after the incident was disclosed, Cencora began notifying individuals and government agencies about the theft of patient personal data, including names, addresses, birth dates, diagnoses, prescriptions, and medications. 

In a SEC filing from February, the pharmaceutical giant noted that the incident did not significantly impact its operations, though the financial implications for the company have yet to be assessed.

The record payment to the extortionists was first reported by Zscaler ThreatLabz researchers in July, identifying the victim as an unnamed Fortune 50 company. 

According to an August report by Chainalysis, 2024 has seen an increase in ransomware operators’ income. The total for six months reached $459.8 million, slightly more than $449.1 million the previous year. However, the scale of losses from attacks has sharply increased, analysts noted.

Earlier, ForkLog reported that former CEO of the educational and research crypto platform Revelo Intel, Nick Drakon, was the victim of an armed robbery by extortionists and transferred company funds to them.