Infamous cyber attack group vanishes from dark web
Ransomware group REvil’s website has vanished from the dark web without any explanation. The site included a payment portal for ransom to get hacked computer systems restored.
REvil stands for Ransomware Evil and is thought be have been behind the attack on beef producer JBS that said it had paid USD 11 million to get access to its computer system. The group has said it was responsible for cyber attack on business around the world in connection with the US national day.
US security has said the group is expected to be Russia-based. President Joe Biden raised the cyber attack issue with Russian president Vladimir Putin at the recent summit in Geneva. Biden also said that he at a phone call with Putin on July 9 had demanded Russian authorities should act against hackers that would be based in the country.
The New York Times reported that the group’s vanishing has left some business in a difficult position as they cannot pay the ransom to get their businesses running again. The newspaper presented three alternative explanations to why the site vanished:
The US Cyber Command, working with domestic law enforcement agencies, could have brought down the group; Russia could have done so as well. Alternatively, REvil might have decided that the heat was too intense and taken itself down. Experts say the group could reappear under a different name.
Software company SolarWinds in a statement said that last weekend, unknown hackers exploited a previously unknown flaw in two of its programs to go after “a limited, targeted set of customers.” The statement did not say anything about who the hackers expected to be.
SolarWinds said it “is unaware of the identity of the potentially affected customers” caught up in the latest hacking campaign. The company said Microsoft researchers had found the bug.
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