Personal data of Luxembourgers under threat: hackers demand ransom from Encevo for 150 gigabytes of stolen information
Hackers from the BlackCat group claimed responsibility for cyberattack on Encevo and its subsidiaries on the night of July 22-23. Earlier, representatives of Encevo admitted that the personal data of numerous users was stolen during the attack.
Now the hackers have announced the exact figure. They have 150 gigabytes of user data in their hands. 180 thousand files with names, addresses, contracts, agreements and other private information. All this will leak into the net. Information may very well be sold to other cybercriminals. Unless, of course, Encevo pays a hefty ransom. The exact amount is known only to BlackCat and the blackmailed company. But we can assume the sum to be considerable.
Famous thiefs of personal data
BlackCat is a well-known hacker group. Since last November, they have carried out about 60 different cyberattacks around the world. There are signs that these hackers were involved in the infamous Colonial Pipelines attack. The attackers overloaded the pipeline with malicious data. And stopped its work for five full days.
According to Microsoft experts, such attacks occur because cybersecurity systems have grown too large. Now the security team in any company collects and analyzes data from dozens of disparate sources. That’s why it can be so hard to notice a quick stealthy hack.
Encevo has not yet responded to the demands of the hackers. The company only asked users whose data could have been stolen to change the compromised passwords. Both in the Encevo account and any other accounts that may use them. In such situations, the police and cybersecurity services advise not to negotiate with hackers. And, of course, not to pay the ransom. But where will Luxembourgers’ personal data end up if Encevo follows this advice? That’s not clear yet.
We are following the story of the cyberattack on Encevo as it develops. To see the full picture, read our past materials: the first confirmation of a cyberattack and the message about the personal data theft.
