Krebs: investigators suspect ransom negotiators had close ties to ShinyHunters, one allegedly helping run its extortion site
Krebs lays out what his sources say investigators found in a seized hacker's Signal messages.
U.S. investigators pursuing the ShinyHunters hacking group have identified executives at two ransomware negotiation firms with unusually close relations to the group, KrebsOnSecurity reports, citing sources close to the investigation. ShinyHunters, which the FBI says has extorted more than $70 million this year, hacked the FBI's recruitment site fbijobs.gov in late September.
According to Krebs's sources, Signal messages on the phone of a Dutch suspect arrested in September showed frequent conversations with Edward Dubrovsky, a Canadian cybersecurity executive the FBI arrested earlier this month and charged with extortion-related offenses, and with at least one executive at a large U.S. consulting firm. The sources say these executives often knew of new victims before the victims did, and that investigators believe a U.S. executive helped operate the group's extortion site, Shinywire, which listed nearly 100 victims between May and October 16.
Krebs is not naming the U.S. firm or executive because no charges have been filed.
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ShinyHunters
After exploring Feds Suspect Ransom Negotiator Ran ShinyHunters Extortion Site – Krebs on Security, the group's history is summarized in ShinyHunters.
Background on ShinyHunters, a criminal hacker group active since 2019 and involved in a large number of data breaches.
Wikipedia · Wade · 5 min
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