Hackers wanted $94m to restore data of firms hit in cyber attack
WASHINGTON: Hackers suspected to be behind a mass extortion attack that affected hundreds of companies worldwide late on Sunday demanded US$70 million (S$94 million) to restore the data they are holding ransom, according to a posting on a Dark Web site.
The demand was posted on a blog typically used by the REvil cybercrime gang, a Russia-linked group that is counted among the cyber criminal world's most prolific extortionists.
REvil's ransomware attack, which the group executed on Friday, was among the most dramatic in a series of increasingly attention-grabbing hacks.
The gang broke into Kaseya, a Miami-based information technology firm, setting off a chain reaction that quickly paralysed the computers of hundreds of firms worldwide.
About a dozen countries were affected, according to research published by cyber security firm Eset.
In at least one case, the disruption spilled out into the public domain when a Swedish grocery store chain had to close hundreds of stores on Saturday because its cash registers had been knocked offline as a consequence of the attack.
Earlier on Sunday, the White House said it was reaching out to victims of the outbreak "to provide assistance based upon an assessment of national risk".
Those hit included schools, small public-sector bodies, travel and leisure organisations, credit unions and accountants, said Mr Ross McKerchar, chief information security officer at Sophos Group. - REUTERS
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