The hackers behind the REvil Ransomware (Sodinokibi) operation have deposited $1 million in bitcoin on a Russian-language hacking forum to prove to potential partners that the business is very profitable, in order to get them interested in the business and hire them.
Many ransomware operations are conducted as Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS), where developers are responsible for developing the ransomware and the payment website, and their associates are hired to hack businesses and encrypt devices .
Under this deal, the ransomware developers receive 20-30% and an affiliate receives 70-80% of the ransom payments.
REvil RaaS is a private business, which means that like a regular company, potential partners are interviewed before being allowed to participate in the program.
REvil company deposits $1 million into hacking forum
In an update to a post on a forum they use to recruit collaborators, REvil announced today that it is once again hiring new collaborators to distribute its ransomware.
As part of this recruitment effort, REvil is looking for teams of specialized hackers in penetration or individuals with hacking experience. The announcement stated the following:
“We are looking for teams or individual hackers who already have experience and skills in penetration testing, who work with msf / cs / koadic, nas / tape, hyper-v.”
To show potential partners that the business is doing very well, REvil has deposited 99 bitcoins, or about $1 million, on the hacker forum.
This hacking forum allows members to deposit bitcoins into a wallet hosted by the site. Members can view deposits , and the deposited bitcoins can be used to privately buy and sell illegal services or data through the forum.
As you can see below, the REvil representative, known as Unknown, has deposited 99 bitcoins on the hacker forum.
This deposit shows how much money someone can make by distributing ransomware as the operators are publicly making the $1 million deposit as if it's no big deal.
Furthermore, this filing shows that they are not too worried that the administrators might steal it.
As the owner of the hacking forum manages the bitcoin , he could commit a scam and abscond with the bitcoins.
Unfortunately, after victims agree to pay ransoms , this type of cybercrime continues and hackers become richer.
