SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: sense who wrote (171687)5/14/2021 4:04:36 AM
From: TobagoJack2 Recommendations

Recommended By
dvdw©
marcher

  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 218822
 
the thing about the ransom, presumably paid in either bitgold or monero, is that while most folks do not make the distinction between paid in 20 or 10 dollar bills but ordinarily msm should / would make a point about whether paid in dollars or pounds or euro or ...

in the instance of the 5M ransom the nyt notes that the payment was in bitgold nytimes.com
"The operator of a critical fuel pipeline on the East Coast paid extortionists roughly 75 Bitcoin — or nearly $5 million — to recover its stolen data, according to people briefed on the transaction, clearing the way for gas to begin flowing again but complicating President Biden’s efforts to deter future attacks."

... which, if true, tells us everything we need to know to conclude that the entire episode is made up bs, because ...

(1) for an allegedly sophisticate hack that a common fellow or ordinary fellowette would be hard-pressed to do, the cabal has been extremely naive about receiving the ransom, for should any one of the 75 bitcoins ever show show up in any wallet attached to any exchange on its way to be turned into fiat or some other crypto, the authorities would zoom-in on the receiving wallet / exchange and ask a simple question of the new owner, "from whom did you receive the coin? or part of a particular coin?"

(2) more interesting would have been had the ransom been paid in monero, where one only knows the sendee should the coins ever surface, but not the sender, and even if so, should anyone got a stack of moneros sent of the suspect hoard, a simple questioning of the sendee suffice.

(3) I do not know much about crypto payments so am not aware of any coin where we (the network) neither know the sendee no the sender.

(4) Would say the perps now have a problem, sitting on 5M that they cannot spend, unless of course they belong to a sanctioned group with authority over the investigators in FBI.

Let us see if the pipe line hacking story turns into one not about finding the perps, but of trying to outlaw BTC.

IOW, the story is very odd, as in suspicious, that it is an inside, sanctioned, and black ops job.



To: sense who wrote (171687)5/14/2021 4:24:01 PM
From: TobagoJack1 Recommendation

Recommended By
marcher

  Respond to of 218822
 
Now more than suspicious

Exit-scam, case-closed, and mission accomplished.

Return home to … Maryland?

zerohedge.com

DarkSide Hackers Reportedly Closing Down After Retaliation Routs Their Infrastructure

The hacker group responsible for the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline that caused fuel shortages in the Southeast US appears to be shutting down after all its recent success, according to WSJ.

The operator of the ransomware group Darkside, believed to originate in Eastern Europe or Russia, has been unable to access its computer systems to conduct cyber attacks. Associates close to the hacking group said it would disband, citing international pressure from the US, said security research firm FireEye.

Recorded Future threat intelligence analyst Dmitry Smilyanets said DarkSide has lost control of its servers and lost some money it made through ransom payments.

"A few hours ago, we lost access to the public part of our infrastructure, namely: Blog. Payment server. DOS servers," Darksupp, the operator of the Darkside ransomware, said.

Now, these servers are unavailable via SSH, and the hosting panels are blocked."

Darksupp also reported cryptocurrency funds were withdrawn from the payment server and would be split between itself and its associates.

This sudden dispersion of the hacking group is suspicious. Who would disband a hack operation for a measly $5 million - that will barely buy a mansion in the Bay Area.

On Thursday, President Joe Biden announced his administration had been "in direct communication with Moscow about the imperative for responsible countries to take decisive action against these ransomware networks" and would "pursue a measure to disrupt their ability to operate."

Biden said, "We do not believe the Russian government was involved in this attack, but we do have strong reason to believe that the criminals who did the attack are living in Russia, that's where it came from."

But not everyone is convinced DarkSide is a legitimate hacking group but rather a cover for a rogue group of CIA hackers.

Natalya Kaspersky, the founder and former CEO of security software firm Kaspersky Lab, made an explosive suggestion in an interview with Russian state-owned domestic news agency RIA Novosti that CIA hackers were actually behind the Colonial Pipeline attack, reported RT News.

Kaspersky said the Umbrage team, which is part of the Remote Development Branch under the CIA's Center for Cyber Intelligence, can mask its hackers as outside ones and leave behind the "fingerprints" of the external hackers when it breaks into electronic devices.

WikiLeaks in 2017 shed light on the Umbrage team. At the time, USA Today said CIA operatives "may have been cataloging hacking methods from outside hackers, including in Russia, that would have allowed the agency to mask their identity by employing the method during espionage."

Kaspersky pointed out a list "of the countries under whose hacker groups this UMBRAGE is disguised – Russia, North Korea, China, Iran." She claimed that "therefore, it cannot be said with certainty that a hacker group carried out the attack from Russia and that it was not a provocation made themselves from there, or from some other country."

... more things that make you go hmm.

Sent from my iPad