A ransomware cyberattack has hit AXA's insurance company branches in Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
The ransomware team called Avaddon took responsibility for the attack on AXA's Asia branches. It posted on their breach platform that they had hacked 3 terabytes of confidential data that contain Asian operations of AXA.
Client identification files (passports, national ID cards, etc.), contracts, claim documents, medical records that reveal sexual health diagnosis, statements of bank account, payment information, and more were among the information stolen by Avaddon, as per the team.
International sites of AXA were also unavailable for some time recently, according to BleepingComputer. It is due to an ongoing Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) strike.
Avaddon's disclosure of cyberattack to AXA came less than a week after AXA announced that payments for ransomware extortion will not be covered anymore by the policies of cyber insurance written in France.
The ransomware team of Avaddon first revealed in January 2021 that they would use DDoS attacks to topple victims' websites or networks before they reached out and started negotiating a ransom payment.
When ransomware gangs started using DDoS attacks on their targets as an extra means of control, BleepingComputer first posted on this emerging development in October 2020.
Avaddon started exposing a few of the hacked information on their leak platform. However, the specific date of the strike is uncertain.
In addition, the ransomware team has given AXA a threat of leaking its vital information if the insurance firm did not communicate and comply with them within ten days.
AXA has given a statement saying, "Asia Assistance was recently the victim of a targeted ransomware attack which impacted its IT operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines."
"As a result, certain data processed by Inter Partners Assistance (IPA) in Thailand has been accessed. At present, there is no evidence that any further data was accessed beyond IPA in Thailand."
The insurance giant added, "A dedicated task force with external forensic experts is investigating the incident. Regulators and business partners have been informed. "
According to the AXA representative, "AXA takes data privacy very seriously and if IPA's investigations confirm that sensitive data of any individuals have been affected, the necessary steps will be taken to notify and support all corporate clients and individuals impacted."
On the other hand, the insurance company did not talk about the amount of ransom Avaddon demanded.
