Category:

Technology

CNA Paid $40 Million in Ransom After March Cyber Attack

Ransomware attacks — and particularly payments — are rarely disclosed so it’s difficult to know what the biggest ransoms have been. The average payment in 2020 was $312,493, according to Palo Alto Networks, a 171% increase over the previous year. The $40 million payment is bigger than any previously disclosed payments to hackers, according to three people familiar with ransomware negotiations.

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Hackers offer decrypt key to Irish Health Service with a catch

While seeming to offer an olive branch — sharing a link to download the decryption key — the group reiterated its threats to disclose patient data unless Irish authorities paid the $20 million ransom demand.

“We are providing the decryption tool for your network for free,” the hackers said in the message posted on Thursday, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. “But you should understand that we will sell or publish a lot of private data if you will not connect us and try to resolve the situation.”

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