FBI calls Akira ‘top five’ ransomware variant out of 130 targeting US businesses

Federal cyber authorities (FBI, CISA, Europol and partners) released a joint advisory on the Akira ransomware group, detailing its double-extortion operations, exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities (including CVE-2024-40766 and flaws in Cisco, VMware ESXi, Veeam and SonicWall), rapid data exfiltration within hours, use of stolen credentials and remote-access tools, and its significant financial impact (roughly $244M), with recommendations to strengthen defenses and hunting for indicators of compromise.