• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Articles
  • News
  • Events
  • Advertize
  • Jobs
  • Courses
  • Contact
  • (0)
  • LoginRegister
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS
      Articles
      News
      Events
      Job Posts
    • Twitter
Datafloq

Datafloq

Data and Technology Insights

  • Categories
    • Big Data
    • Blockchain
    • Cloud
    • Internet Of Things
    • Metaverse
    • Robotics
    • Cybersecurity
    • Startups
    • Strategy
    • Technical
  • Big Data
  • Blockchain
  • Cloud
  • Metaverse
  • Internet Of Things
  • Robotics
  • Cybersecurity
  • Startups
  • Strategy
  • Technical

Ransomware gangs disrupted by response to Colonial Pipeline hack

Reuters / 2 min read.
May 15, 2021
floq.to/HrPex

By Joseph Menn

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Multiple ransomware groups claimed they were shutting down or scaling back operations on Friday as the U.S. government ramped up pressure while tech companies, cryptocurrency exchanges and others worried about getting caught in the crossfire.

DarkSide, the Russian-speaking gang blamed by the FBI for a hacking attack that led to a six-day fuel pipeline shutdown, said it was going out of business after losing access to some of its servers.

Another major criminal gang said it would forbid encryption attacks on critical infrastructure, and forums where such gangs recruit partners said they were banning ads related to ransomware, analysts said.

U.S. President Joe Biden repeatedly warned the gangs and major host country Russia about consequences for a ransomware attack that prompted Colonial Pipeline to shut down the main supply line to the East Coast. That line was resuming full operation, but many pumps remain empty at stations in some states after days of panic buying.

Investigators said DarkSide provided the encryption software that a criminal affiliate used to render Colonial’s internal files inaccessible. It planned to split any ransom to recover that data with the affiliate, who the investigators have identified as another Russian criminal.

DarkSide claimed that some of its money had been transferred to new electronic wallets, though rivals and some U.S. experts warned the group could be using the uproar as an excuse to cash out. Ransomware gangs commonly change names and membership.

It was not immediately clear whether the professed retreat was due to U.S. diplomatic pressure, legal demands on technology providers or even government-backed hacking.

The FBI, Justice Department and White House National Security Council all declined to comment.

“Ransomware criminals are clearly getting nervous with all the heat coming down from U.S. government and industry,” said Dmitri Alperovitch, who co-founded security provider CrowdStrike before starting thinktank Silverado Policy Accelerator.

If it continues, the moves would reverse a trend in the past two years of the gangs targeting more vital companies that are likely to pay to resume operations, or to have insurance coverage that will pay for them.

“Many will likely try to lie low for a few months in hopes that it will pass,” Alperovitch said. “The key will be to keep up the pressure on both the criminal gangs themselves as well as the states like Russia that offer them safe haven from prosecution.”

Earlier this year, U.S. authorities cited the ransomware surge as a national security threat and noted some overlaps with foreign government interests.

The Justice Department established a ransomware task force, and a public-private study panel issued recommendations including greater regulation of cryptocurrency.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by David Gregorio)

Categories: News
Tags: BI, Data, public, security, technology

About Reuters

Primary Sidebar

E-mail Newsletter

Sign up to receive email updates daily and to hear what's going on with us!

Publish
AN Article
Submit
a press release
List
AN Event
Create
A Job Post

Jobs

  • Software Engineer | South Yorkshire, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Software Engineer with C# .net Investment House | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Senior Java Developer | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • Software Engineer – Growing Digital Media Company | London, GB - February 07, 2023
  • LBG Returners – Senior Data Analyst | Chester Moor, GB - February 07, 2023
More Jobs
Host your website with Managed WordPress for $1.00/mo with GoDaddy!

Tags

AI Amazon analysis analytics app application Artificial Intelligence BI Big Data business China Cloud Companies company costs crypto customers Data design development digital environment experience future Google+ government industry information learning machine learning market mobile Musk news Other public research sales security share social social media software strategy technology

News

  • EU examines Nvidia-dominated AI chip market’s abuses – Bloomberg News
  • Valkyrie Funds halts ethereum purchases for exchange-traded fund
  • China’s Huawei sets up commodities hedging team in Singapore, Hong Kong
  • Tesla’s deliveries expected to fall on plant shutdowns, soft demand
  • China to waive security checks for some data exports
More News

Related Online Courses

  • Oracle Cloud Data Management Foundations Workshop
  • Data Science at Scale
  • Statistics with Python
More courses

Footer


Datafloq is the one-stop source for big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence. We offer information, insights and opportunities to drive innovation with emerging technologies.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent

  • 5 Reasons Why Modern Data Integration Gives You a Competitive Advantage
  • 5 Most Common Database Structures for Small Businesses
  • 6 Ways to Reduce IT Costs Through Observability
  • How is Big Data Analytics Used in Business? These 5 Use Cases Share Valuable Insights
  • How Realistic Are Self-Driving Cars?

Search

Tags

AI Amazon analysis analytics app application Artificial Intelligence BI Big Data business China Cloud Companies company costs crypto customers Data design development digital environment experience future Google+ government industry information learning machine learning market mobile Musk news Other public research sales security share social social media software strategy technology

Copyright © 2023 Datafloq
HTML Sitemap| Privacy| Terms| Cookies

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • WhatsApp

In order to optimize the website and to continuously improve Datafloq, we use cookies. For more information click here.

Dear visitor,
Thank you for visiting Datafloq. If you find our content interesting, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter:

Did you know that you can publish job posts for free on Datafloq? You can start immediately and find the best candidates for free! Click here to get started.

Not Now Subscribe

Thanks for visiting Datafloq
If you enjoyed our content on emerging technologies, why not subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive the latest news straight into your mailbox?

Subscribe

No thanks

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Marketing cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!