Tether revealed that it was the victim of a ransomware attack in which hackers demanded 500 Bitcoin ($24 million) as a ransom.
Over the weekend, the blockchain and cryptocurrency company said on Twitter that it had been held for ransom, saying that if these documents were leaked they would “harm the Bitcoin ecosystem.”.
Tether said the payment deadline is March 1 (i.e. today), but added, “We are not going to pay the hackers.”
“It is unclear whether this is a basic extortion scheme like those targeting other cryptocurrency or individuals looking to undermine Tether and the cryptocurrency as a whole,” Tether says. “Either way, those trying to harm Tether are becoming increasingly desperate.”
The company also used the same thread to claim that documents leaked online, allegedly showing questionable communication between employees of Ether, Deltec Bank & Trust, and other parties, are “fake.”.
The unverified screenshots appear to be related to Bahamas-based Deltec, which has a banking relationship with Tether and a discussion about asset. Tether says the documents are “fake.”
In a separate tweet, Tether and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino stated that the main goal of these alleged leaks “is to discredit #bitcoin and all #crypto.”
“While we believe this is a very unfortunate attempt at defamation, we take it seriously,” Tether commented. “We have reported the fake communications and associated ransom demand to law enforcement. As always, we will fully support law enforcement in an investigation of this extortion scheme.”
Information source: zdnet.com
