A leak website utilized by the Everest ransomware gang was hacked and defaced this weekend, TechCrunch has discovered.
The leak website, which the ransomware gang makes use of to publish stolen recordsdata to extort its victims into paying a ransom demand, was changed with a quick textual content word: “Don’t do crime CRIME IS BAD xoxo from Prague.”
The website was nonetheless defaced on the time of writing. It’s not clear if the gang additionally skilled a knowledge breach on account of the hack.
Everest is a prolific Russia-linked ransomware gang that has claimed credit score for a number of hacks and information breaches since its inception in 2020, together with the theft of greater than 420,000 prospects’ information from hashish retail chain Stiizy. The U.S. authorities has additionally attributed a number of hacks to Everest, together with breaches on the U.S. area company NASA and the Brazilian authorities.
Ransomware (and extortion) assaults are on the rise, however latest information reveals that the variety of sufferer funds to hackers dropped total throughout 2024 as extra companies refused to pay hefty ransoms.
While regulation enforcement operations have focused and disrupted some ransomware gangs in recent times, together with the LockBit and Radar hacking teams, a number of ransomware gangs have additionally skilled damaging leaks and sabotage from inside.
