When you're newly in the money with roughly $17.5 million worth of cryptocurrency, $5 million of which came courtesy of Colonial Pipeline, it makes sense to take some time off work and enjoy yourself.
DarkSide, the possibly Russian-based hacking group behind the ransomware which prompted Colonial Pipeline to proactively take its 5,500 miles of U.S. pipeline briefly offline, claimed Thursday that it had been forced to end its affiliates program. The program, which was a sort of ransomware-as-a-service business model, involved providing hackers access to DarkSide's ransomware software in exchange for a cut of any proceeds.
According to Intel471, a cybersecurity firm which spotted the announcement, DarkSide said the move is partly "due to the pressure from the US."
And sure, the U.S. government is likely putting a lot of pressure on DarkSide's members. On Thursday, President Joe Biden said that officials intended to "pursue a measure to disrupt [ransomware networks'] ability to operate."
On Thursday, DarkSide's website went offline, and the group claimed it lost access to a host of funds as well.
DarkSide's website before it went offline.Credit: screenshot / darkside"A couple of hours after the seizure, funds from the payment server (belonging to us and our clients) were withdrawn to an unknown account," read the DarkSide statement, translated from Russian, in part.
And DarkSide had a lot of funds. Elliptic, a blockchain analytics company, found one of DarkSide's Bitcoin wallets. According to the company, the wallet in question received approximately $17.5 million worth of bitcoin since March alone.
"The wallet has been active since 4th March 2021 and has received 57 payments from 21 different wallets," notes the company.
Importantly, Elliptic writes that $5 million worth of bitcoin was emptied from DarkSide's wallet on Thursday. The question, of course, is was that cryptocurrency seized by an angry government, or is DarkSide just moving its loot?
Which brings us back to DarkSide's claims of calling it quits. Sure, the group's website went offline and it's saying it can no longer access its payment or CDN servers, but should we really take the group's word for it?
SEE ALSO: Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid millions for slow-ass decryption software
There's a long tradition of exit scamming in the shady world of darknet markets — bailing with everyone's cryptocurrency when the water gets too hot and blaming it on a hack — and it wouldn't be unheard of for a group like DarkSide to take this opportunity to rebrand and hide its money in the process.
Regardless of DarkSide's fate, the pipeline shutdown won't be the last time we all feel the effects of an international ransomware group. That's because no matter what the White House says, ransomware isn't going anywhere — especially if companies with deep pockets like Colonial Pipeline keep making it worth the hackers' time.
TopicsCybersecurityCryptocurrency
(责任编辑：焦點)
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame
Unicorn ramen is real
Rick Perry was casually blowing bubbles with his gum at the inauguration
Massive seas of humanity move in these Women's March timelapsesThis 'sh*tpost' bot makes terrible memes so you don't have toThis 'sh*tpost' bot makes terrible memes so you don't have to
The internet is awash in trashy memes just waiting for your late-night retweet spree. Why waste prec
...[详细]Woman eats two entire durian fruit because she couldn't bring them onto a train
A disgruntled woman who was stopped from bringing her pungent durian fruit onto a train in China, de
...[详细]J.K. Rowling has a cutting response to Trump's quote about 'heroes'
LONDON -- It's surely only a matter of time before Donald Trump goes on a wild, 5am Twitter rant abo
...[详细]2016's 'Hitman' was great because it didn't let players binge
Hitman's 2016 success was moored to a simple idea: shut down the binge.Yes, the drawn-out release of
...[详细]This 'sh*tpost' bot makes terrible memes so you don't have to
The internet is awash in trashy memes just waiting for your late-night retweet spree. Why waste prec
...[详细]HTC's new flagship has two displays, but no headphone jack
As expected, HTC has joined the league of players that believe headphone jacks are relics of the pas
...[详细]How Jadeveon Clowney went from draft bust to forceful freak of nature
You don't have to look hard to relive "The Hit."SEE ALSO:This is the sports debate show parody we ne
...[详细]Fans uncover the backstory for the next 'Legend of Zelda'
Using nothing but a brief glimpse at the back of the game's special edition map, a group of hardcore
...[详细]Major earthquake and multiple aftershocks rock central Italy
UPDATE: Aug. 25, 2016, 8:22 a.m. BST 。 Death toll is now at least 247 dead: 190 in Rieti province and
...[详细]23 incredible photos from Disney's 'Star Wars' cruise
It was the last full week before the Dark Times. Before the Trumpire. But as the world held its brea
...[详细]Dramatic photo captures nun texting friends after Italy earthquake
The BBC sets up a taskforce to fight back against fake news
