Conti, one of the largest ransomware groups in the world, had been hacking individuals and organizations for years. However, in 2022, the tide turned; this criminal gang fell apart and thousands of internal messages from its members were published online. What do these messages reveal?
The Attack on Ukraine and Information Leak
As news of Russia's attack on Ukraine broke, fingers quickly moved across keyboards. These are messages exchanged within the Conti group; a hacking gang primarily made up of Russian members, but with collaborators around the world. One member asked in the group's internal discussions: "Friends, brothers, is there any other Ukrainian here besides me?"
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This group extorted millions by encrypting organizations' data and demanding money for its release, reportedly earning about $180 million in 2021 alone. However, some members had no idea who their real collaborators were.
Cyber Attacks and Crisis in Healthcare Centers
Disagreements over Russia's attack on Ukraine had serious consequences for these criminals. A day after the attack on Ukraine, a message was posted on the dark web site of Conti in support of Russia. A few hours later, this message was deleted and replaced with the text: "We are not allied with any government and condemn the ongoing war."
Two days after Conti's declaration of support for Russia, over 300,000 confidential messages from the group were leaked by one of its members. For Joe Vreden, the director of cyber threat intelligence at British security firm Cyjax, that day was truly astonishing. He says an anonymous account suddenly appeared on the social network X (formerly Twitter) and posted a message: "Conti, we know everything about you; you can't even trust your girlfriend."
These messages revealed the discussions and, most importantly, the disagreements among group members during some of their boldest attacks. For instance, the attack on the Health Service Executive of Ireland in May 2021, right in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, was one of these attacks that had a profound impact on society.
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