""If you are interested, we can offer you 15% of any ransom payment if you give us access to your PC." That was the message I received out of the blue from someone called Syndicate who pinged me in July on the encrypted chat app Signal. I had no idea who this person was but instantly knew what it was about. I was being offered a portion of a potentially large amount of money if I helped cyber criminals access BBC systems through my laptop."
"I decided to play along with Syndicate after taking advice from a senior BBC editor. I was eager to see how criminals make these shady deals with potentially treacherous employees at a time when cyber-attacks around the world are becoming more impactful and disruptive to everyday life. I told Syn, who had changed their name mid-conversation, that I was potentially interested but needed to know how it works."
A criminal gang contacted an individual on the encrypted app Signal offering a share of ransom payments in return for PC access and login credentials. The gang proposed percentages (initially 15%, later inflated) to entice cooperation and described hacking and bitcoin extortion as the mechanism. A recent case in Brazil involved an IT worker arrested for selling login details, causing a reported $100 million loss. The recipient engaged the gang to observe how such illicit arrangements are negotiated and to reveal how insiders can enable impactful and disruptive cyber-attacks on major organizations.
Read at www.bbc.com
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