It turns out that cybercriminals did not hack anyone, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.
An unusual scandal broke out in the world of cybersecurity: the hacker group Mogilevich said that it does not distribute ransomware viruses. In reality, according to them, they are fraud assistants who build their schemes on deception and cunning.
The revelation of the group's true motives came very unexpectedly, shortly after "hackers" claimed the theft of 189 GB of confidential data from the well-known video game developer Epic Games, which the company quickly denied.
A representative of the group, who calls himself Pongo, commented on this turn of events, claiming that all the activities of the Mogilevich group are nothing more than a well-planned scam.
"We used big names to get our name out as quickly as possible," Pongo said. According to him, everything was done in order to quickly gain trust among other cybercriminals, and then fool them by selling them fake RaaS tools and non-existent data from "hacked" organizations.
So, the group convinced the buyer to transfer them 85 thousand dollars for a database of one terabyte, allegedly stolen from the drone manufacturer DJI, although in fact the criminals did not have any data, because they did not hack anyone.
According to Pongo, the goal of Mogilevich was not only to show their ability to deceive, but also to emphasize that they consider themselves "brilliant criminals", and not just hackers. Such a statement calls into question even the very fact of their "recognition", because who can guarantee that this is not another scam?
The event caused a strong reaction in the cybersecurity environment. Many experts and analysts who have previously written about the activities of Mogilevich were confused, because now they are faced with the need to rethink their perception of the group.
Did the Mogilevich hackers do something good by forcing other cybercriminals to spend their money on outright fiction, or are they no better than ordinary cyber bandits? The question is rather rhetorical.
The story of Mogilevich is a reminder that in the world of cybercrime, not everything is as clear as it may seem at first glance. It is always important to remain vigilant and critical of any information, even if it is obtained from an authoritative source and seems absolutely reliable.
An unusual scandal broke out in the world of cybersecurity: the hacker group Mogilevich said that it does not distribute ransomware viruses. In reality, according to them, they are fraud assistants who build their schemes on deception and cunning.
The revelation of the group's true motives came very unexpectedly, shortly after "hackers" claimed the theft of 189 GB of confidential data from the well-known video game developer Epic Games, which the company quickly denied.
A representative of the group, who calls himself Pongo, commented on this turn of events, claiming that all the activities of the Mogilevich group are nothing more than a well-planned scam.
"We used big names to get our name out as quickly as possible," Pongo said. According to him, everything was done in order to quickly gain trust among other cybercriminals, and then fool them by selling them fake RaaS tools and non-existent data from "hacked" organizations.
So, the group convinced the buyer to transfer them 85 thousand dollars for a database of one terabyte, allegedly stolen from the drone manufacturer DJI, although in fact the criminals did not have any data, because they did not hack anyone.
According to Pongo, the goal of Mogilevich was not only to show their ability to deceive, but also to emphasize that they consider themselves "brilliant criminals", and not just hackers. Such a statement calls into question even the very fact of their "recognition", because who can guarantee that this is not another scam?
The event caused a strong reaction in the cybersecurity environment. Many experts and analysts who have previously written about the activities of Mogilevich were confused, because now they are faced with the need to rethink their perception of the group.
Did the Mogilevich hackers do something good by forcing other cybercriminals to spend their money on outright fiction, or are they no better than ordinary cyber bandits? The question is rather rhetorical.
The story of Mogilevich is a reminder that in the world of cybercrime, not everything is as clear as it may seem at first glance. It is always important to remain vigilant and critical of any information, even if it is obtained from an authoritative source and seems absolutely reliable.
