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Wait hang on, that cliff hanger though >"Multiple security experts quickly zeroed in on how investigators were able to retrieve the funds, which did not repres
by ackbar03 5y ago
Wait hang on, that cliff hanger though
>"Multiple security experts quickly zeroed in on how investigators were able to retrieve the funds, which did not represent the total amount Colonial paid (~$4.4 million): The amount seized was roughly what a top DarkSide affiliate would have earned for scoring the initial malware infection that precipitated the ransomware incident."
I'm not quite sure what this implies? That the team who did the initial infection was in fact some sort of FBI undercover?
So undercover FBI successfully hacked colonial pipeline, ignited all this press coverage and attention, and quietly disappeared with the ransom amount? Am I interpreting that correctly?
- chevill 5y ago>I'm not quite sure what this implies? That the team who did the initial infection was in fact some sort of FBI undercover? I suppose that's one of the many possibilities that are implied, but its not even close to the most likely. I think its more likely that some of the attackers' systems or accounts were compromised (AKA hacked).
- inter_netuser 5y agowhy is that more likely that the attackers systems were compromised? Does it not sound weird that a cybercrime gang would leave a hot wallet on some random VPS? That seems incredibly unlikely.
- l33t2328 5y agoI’m not surprised. There is no reason to suspect they’re going to be particularly elite with that respect. It doesn’t take a _ton_ of technical proficiency to get ransomware someone else made and target a company with it.
- R0b0t1 5y agoUS agencies have tried to set up action and had it get away from them. More the CIA than the FBI from memory.
- jaywalk 5y agoIf you would have clicked on the link to the article, it's explained in a little more detail and a few experts weigh in with what likely happened: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/06/justice-dept-claws-back-2-3m-paid-by-colonial-pipeline-to-ransomware-gang/#more-55877 https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/06/justice-dept-claws-back-...
- meowface 5y agoThis article is similarly light on actual details of how they might've done it.
- l33t2328 5y ago> I'm not quite sure what this implies? This implies less technically inclined “affiliates” used the malware made by someone else, slipped up and had their 85% cut retrieved. Meanwhile, the creators of the ransomware took their 15% cut safely.
- jimbob21 5y agoSeems like they just hacked the one affiliate, not the whole org. I don't think it was FBI undercover blow up the entire northeast oil supply type of conspiracy