🇺🇸 🚨 RANSOMWARE "RECOVERY" FIRM OWNER CHARGED WITH SECRETLY PAYING HACKERS WHILE BILLING VICTIMS MILLIONS
The US Justice Department says Zohar Pinhasi, owner of Florida ransomware remediation company MonsterCloud, told victims he could decrypt their data without paying the cybercriminals. Instead, he allegedly paid the attackers for decryption keys and charged clients far more than the ransom.
• MonsterCloud's website warned clients not to pay ransoms, and Pinhasi claimed access to "proprietary tools" and "advanced decryption techniques"
• DOJ says he had no special decryption technology and allegedly charged clients more than $19M while paying more than $8M in ransoms
• One example: around August 2023, a ransom payment of $8,200, and a bill to the client of $150,000
• Charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of wire fraud conspiracy, arraigned Oct 7 in the Eastern District of New York. Each count carries up to 20 years if convicted
An indictment is only an allegation, and Pinhasi is presumed innocent until proven guilty. For victims, the case is a reminder to ask any "no-ransom" recovery vendor exactly how decryption will be done. The FBI and CISA advise against paying ransoms, since payment does not guarantee decryption or stop a leak.
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