[su_heading size=”18″]Virtual private network (VPN) provider BlackVPN has refused to give money to the hacker group Armada Collective, which threatened to DDoS attack the company if it did not give it![/su_heading]
According to a blog post, BlackVPN received a threatening email from the group demanding 10.08 bitcoins (about $4,600) by Monday or they would drop their service and the price would go up with each passing day the ransom wasn't paid. The email also said that the bitcoins were anonymous, so no one would know the company had cooperated.
Armada Collective is the group of hackers that targeted encrypted email service Protonmail last year and successfully took $6,000 from the Swiss company after bombarding its servers with traffic. Read about the incident here:
[su_button url=”https://www.secnews.gr/98115/protonmail-pays-web-attack-ransom/” target=”blank” style=”glass” background=”#0888e5″ color=”#0607066″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”round” icon_color=”#ffffff”]Protonmail: Swiss e-mail firm pays ransom for web attack [/su_button]
The same group also claimed responsibility for the attack on Greek banks in November. See here:
[su_button url=”https://www.secnews.gr/99001/%CE%BD%CE%AD%CE%BF-%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%AF%CE%B3%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%BF-%CE%B1%CF%80%CF%8C-%CF%87%CE%AC%CE%BA%CE%B5%CF%81%CF%82-%CF%84%CF%89%CE%BD-%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%B7%CE%BD%CE%B9/” target=”blank” style=”stroked” background=”#c1f9b2″ color=”#0607066″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”round” icon_color=”#ffffff”]New ultimatum from the Greek bank hackers! [/su_button]
Of course, it's not clear whether they're the same group or copycats. As with Anonymous, it's almost impossible to confirm if someone claims to speak on behalf of the group.
BlackVPN said it received the threat on Monday, April 18, and was preparing for the attack. The company also said that on Saturday, April 16, its network was briefly disrupted by a small DDoS attack, but no intrusions were detected. Since then, the company has been preparing to withstand a potential attack and has informed its customers that they are safe.
The blog post also mentioned that two other providers have received similar threats but did not name them. BlackVPN said it hopes its transparency will encourage other providers to speak out about the threats.
Last week, the VPN service Cloak received a very similar email demanding around 10 bitcoins, and it too has not succumbed to the blackmail and has not suffered any serious attack so far.
It's unclear whether Armada Collective is the same group behind the threats to all companies. If it is, the criminals are likely sending multiple threats to VPN providers to see who will bite. According to BlackVPN, the group would be effective if it attacked one service at a time.
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