Ransomware recovery firm claimed it could decrypt files, but may have just paid hackers and pocketed the difference
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years.
TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust.
WTF?! Law enforcement agencies have long warned against paying ransomware gangs, given that they could simply demand more money, refuse to hand over a decryption key, or mark you as someone willing to pay. But it seems we might have to be cautious of companies offering to remedy these incidents, too: they could be as bad as the criminals themselves.
The United States Department of Justice has charged Zohar Pinhasi, 50, also known as "Zack Silver" and "Zack Green," with fraud. He ran a Florida-based company called MonsterCloud that told ransomware victims not to pay attackers because it had a way of decrypting their files – for a fee, of course.
But according to the DoJ, MonsterCloud wasn't using "proprietary tools" and "advanced decryption techniques" to achieve this feat; it was allegedly...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to www.techspot.com. To see the full text click HERE
