FSIN’s Internal Systems Hacked, Pays $20,000 in Bitcoin as Ransom to Cybercriminals
Database management and insecurity have continued to pose a threat to financial institutions and the cryptospace at large. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), a body committed to the promotion, protection, and implementation of the treaty promises, recently fell victim to hackers and paid $20,000 in bitcoin as ransom, reported CBC news on October 24, 2018.
FSIN Tackles Cyber Criminals
Per sources close to the matter, FISN paid an anonymous crypto-criminal $20,000 in bitcoin after the hacker disrupted their internal files and email system. The hackers were able to steal an extensive range of information from FSIN systems.
Residential school survivors, youth athletes and their coaches, internal land claims and many others information were taken from the computer by the cyberpunks.
No traces were observed during these scandalous activities carried out by the thieves. It’s worth noting that a staff member of the organization was also attacked by hackers, demanding a ransom of over $100,000, CBC News said earlier in May.
Efforts Made by FSIN to Combat the Incidence
Attempts have been put in place by FSIN treasury board and its audit committee to tackle this menace. To this effect, messages were sent to all FSIN stakeholders; law enforcement was also informed of the situation. Importantly, the police have reportedly advised the FSIN not to pay such an outrageous fee to the hacker, as there is no guarantee whatsoever that the criminals will release the files after getting the cryptocurrency ransom.
However, after a closed-door meeting held by top executives of the FSIN, the said fee was eventually released to the anonymous hacker in bitcoin.
Although the FSIN has since regained access to its files, it is still feared that the rogue actors may have tampered with some files.
Cryptojacking Steadily on the Rise
While the price of bitcoin and other digital assets have seen a considerable decline in 2018, hackers are still very much interested in enriching themselves, to the detriment of cryptocurrency investors.
As reported by BTCManager, on October 2, 2018, India cybersecurity experts intensified efforts to identify websites infected with cryptocurrency mining malware, following the increasing cases cryptojacking in the country.
In related news, BTCManager informed on September 26, 2018, that cybersecurity firm McAfee Labs had stated in its report titled “McAfee Labs Threat Report,” that a total of 2.5 million samples of cryptojacking malware were found in Q2 of 2018.
