Hackers ask for $70 million to return data of hundreds of companies
Hackers believed to be behind a massive blackmail operation targeting hundreds of companies around the world have demanded a ransom of $70 million to return data they are holding hostage.
The request was posted on a dark web site on a blog usually used by the cybercrime Revell Gang, a gang with ties to Russia that is one of the world's most widely used Internet gangs for extortion.
The gang hides under different names, making it difficult to identify who is speaking on behalf of the hackers, but Alan Liska of Recorded Future, a cybersecurity company, said the message was almost certainly coming from the leadership of the Revell gang itself.
The group did not respond to an attempt by Reuters to contact it for comment.
The gang's attack on Friday was among the most prominent extortion attacks in a series of increasingly high-profile hacks.
The gang infiltrated the Miami-based IT company Cassia, gained access to the company's clients and began a chain reaction that quickly paralyzed the computers of hundreds of companies around the world.
An executive at Cassia said the company was aware of the ransom request but did not respond to other messages seeking comment on the attack.
Cyber security company ESET said that about 12 countries were affected by the cyber attack.
In at least one case, these developments came to light when Swedish grocer Coop was forced to close hundreds of stores on Saturday, because cash registers malfunctioned as a result of the attack.
On Sunday, the White House said it was trying to reach out to victims of the attack "to provide assistance based on a nationwide risk assessment."
