Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

After Demanding $3 Million Ransom, Hacker Dumps Massive Customer Financial Data (dailydot.com)

Posted by timothy on from the an-honest-thief dept.

Patrick O'Neill writes: Just over week after a hacker breached a United Arab Emirates Bank, demanding a $3 million ransom to stop tweeting customers' information, he appears to have dumped tens of thousands of customer files online. The actual data appears to be real. And it's vast. One database analyzed by the Daily Dot includes the sensitive information of around 40,000 customers, including their full names, credit card numbers, and birthdays. One account contained 4,7174,962.38 dirham, or $12,844,589.77. Those accounts' total earnings add up to $110,736,002. One bank executive confirmed the hack to Farooqui, adding that, "This is blackmail."

6 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. Um, yeah ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "This is blackmail."

    Yes, that's exactly what it is.

    What do you think holding something for ransom is?

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Um, yeah ... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They shouldn't pay it anyway. All they have is this guy's word that he won't release any (more) data. Maybe they pay him and he sells the data on to someone else, who then demands their $3m ransom too. No matter what happens they will have to treat it as if the information is public now.

      As well as losses due to theft, it will be interesting to see if there are any financial penalties from their regulator or if anyone manages to sue them. For one the people being screwed can afford good lawyers.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  2. It WAS Blackmail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    One bank executive confirmed the hack to Farooqui, adding that, "This is blackmail."

    Dude, it was blackmail. This is a shitstorm.

  3. Income inequality by Theaetetus · · Score: 4, Informative
    Complete aside, but...

    One database analyzed by the Daily Dot includes the sensitive information of around 40,000 customers, including their full names, credit card numbers, and birthdays. One account contained 4,7174,962.38 dirham, or $12,844,589.77. Those accounts' total earnings add up to $110,736,002.

    $110.7 million over 40,000 accounts is an average of $2,767.5 per account. That one guy with $12 million has over 4600 times the average.

    1. Re:Income inequality by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well... The "1% owns everything" is not the usual bullshit or conspiracy theory, is very real.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  4. You can't pay the ransom by ZorinLynx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They have the information. They can release it any time.

    You might pay the ransom, then they'll demand more money a year down the line.

    It sucks that the customer data got released, but paying a ransom isn't the right way to deal with this. Improve security, make it harder to breach the systems. Paying ransoms just encourages more ransoms in the future.

    If the criminals know they'll never get their ransom paid, they'll stop. (and move onto other criminal endeavors I'm sure... but that's criminals for ya)