The Brain Cipher ransomware group to release the decryption keys for Indonesia Terkoneksi on Wednesday. They said their attack aims to highlight the need for funding the industry and hiring skilled experts. They clarified that the attack is not politically motivated, but rather a penetration test that requires payment afterwards.
The group apologized to Indonesian citizens for the impact of their actions and asked for public recognition of their decision to release the keys. They said private thanks by mail would be okay if the government doesn’t want to thank them publicly. They also provided a Monero wallet for donations and hoped to receive contributions by Wednesday, but stressed that the keys will be given for free and on their own accord.
Releasing the decryption keys will help the victims recover their data and get back to normal operations.
Cybersecurity experts are divided on the motivations behind Brain Cipher’s sudden change of heart.
Some think that the group may have been influenced by more enforcement and international cooperation. Others believe that internal conflicts could have caused this unexpected decision.
"Palo Alto Networks has observed threat activity exploiting an unauthenticated remote command execution vulnerability against a limited number of firewall...
“This is an unprecedented development in the world of ransomware,” said Dr. Anita Sharma, a cybersecurity analyst to cybersecuritynews. “While it’s a positive step for the victims, it’s crucial to remain vigilant.
Recorded future reported, the Indonesian communications and informatics minister, Budi Arie Setiadi, is under pressure to resign. This is due to a major ransomware attack on the country’s national data center, which caused disruptions in over 200 institutions, including government agencies.
Over 18,500 Indonesians signed a petition asking Setiadi to resign. The petition was started by SAFEnet, a local digital rights organization, last week.
“As a state institution responsible for data and information management, including security, the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology should also be held accountable for the current ransomware attack,” the petition said.
Source; Darkweb, Darkweb intelligence, Fusion intelligence center
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