Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters has launched an unusual crowdsourced extortion scheme, offering $10 in Bitcoin to anyone willing to help pressure their alleged victims into paying ransoms.. The cybercrime collective is encouraging followers to email senior executives at organizations it claims to have breached, urging them to pay up and avoid publicity about the group's new data leak site. Those who contact executives through personal email accounts will receive higher rewards,
Some of the recent attacks attributed to Scattered Spider also appear to have involved ShinyHunters, a cybercrime group specializing in extortion. The two groups are believed to have merged. In a message posted online last week, Scattered Spider and ShinyHunters announced their retirement. A lengthy manifesto mentions recent high-profile hacks and taunts law enforcement. "Our objectives having been fulfilled, it is now time to say goodbye," the hackers said.