The internal data captured during a hack by the Fraunhofer Institute is being offered on the dark web for 2 million US dollars.
Enlarge
Ransomware attack on the IMWS in Halle.
© istockphoto.com/alexskopje
The Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems (IMWS) in Halle has fallen victim to a ramsomware attack. According to the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), data from the research facility was stolen and encrypted during the attack.
Fraunhofer Institute does not want to pay a ransom
According to the LKA, the IMWS has already taken precautions to limit the damage as much as possible. The hackers had made a ransom demand, after which they wanted to decrypt the data again. However, the Fraunhofer Institute rejected the request.
“The Executive Board of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, in close consultation with the Fraunhofer Senate, decided not to support organized crime with monetary payments,”
says Roman Möhlmann from the Fraunhofer Society. The situation is currently under control and
“All on-site systems were immediately taken off the grid and shut down as a precautionary measure,”
a spokesman explained to MDR Sachsen-Anhalt.
$2.2M in stolen data on the dark web
However, the stolen data is already being offered on a trading platform on the dark web. This was the result of research by the Swiss news portal Watson and MDR. The hackers offer 320 gigabytes of data and ask for 2.2 million US dollars. What exactly is in the data package is not clear from the offer.
