A Nigerian man has been arrested for participating in a “ransom your employer” scheme that attempted to lure insiders to deploy ransomware on employers’ systems.
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On November 22, security expert Brian Krebs reported that Oluwaseun Medayedupin was arrested by Nigerian authorities on Friday.
The suspect is allegedly linked to a "ransom your employer" scheme investigated by Abnormal Security in August.
The cybersecurity company's customers were sent emails with the subject line "Partnership affiliate offer," asking the recipient to consider becoming an accomplice in a cyberattack.
The emails offered a 40% discount on the expected $2.5 million ransomware payment in Bitcoin (BTC), which was made after recipients installed DemonWare ransomware on their employer's systems.
See also: Conti ransomware: $25.5 million in profits since July
A Microsoft Outlook email address and a Telegram handle were provided to interested parties. Researchers from Abnormal Security claimed to be under the guise of a fictional person and confirmed that they were sent a ransomware executable hosted on two file-sharing websites.
However, the ransomware “cut” offered was reduced to between $120,000 – $250,000 once the team began communicating with the program’s operator.
The team suspected that the ransomware initiative may be of Nigerian origin. When questioned, the hacker said he was trying to create a social network for Africa called Sociogram and shared his LinkedIn with his full name.
See also: FBI: Ransomware attacks will increase during the holidays
Medayedupin then contacted Krebs after his report, requesting that the Sociogram name be removed. Charges against Medayedupin are expected to be filed this week.
Information source: zdnet.com
