New ransomware variant has BlackCat-like similarities, report says

A new Rust-based ransomware strain calling itself Cicada3301 has been observed in the wild and is reported to share technical characteristics with BlackCat/ALPHV. Morphisec disrupted and reversed at least one attack; a public leak site lists over 20 victims (mostly small- and mid-sized businesses, including healthcare and manufacturing) across North America and the UK. The malware is described as advanced — able to tamper with endpoint detection and to follow symlinks for further encryption — while attribution remains unclear and the group name is being disavowed by parties linked to the original Cicada 3301 puzzle.