NotPetya attackers empty Bitcoin wallet and issue new ransom demand

Yep... As I predicted. A ransomware scam would come along that makes people unwilling to negotiate. Ransomware really depends on the premise that people trust their money will get them their data back. If that's not there then people will not engage with these criminals.

NATO is seeing this as a possible act of war also. For better or worse we'll see high level discussions start coming up that makes crypto currency illegal. Sure people might still be able to mine, hoard and transfer them, but governments can make it illegal for retailers to accept crypto.

And please don't shoot the messenger - This is all rhetoric. Merely logical speculations.
 
The Trutherizer said:
Yep... As I predicted. A ransomware scam would come along that makes people unwilling to negotiate. Ransomware really depends on the premise that people trust their money will get them their data back. If that's not there then people will not engage with these criminals.

NATO is seeing this as a possible act of war also. For better or worse we'll see high level discussions start coming up that makes crypto currency illegal. Sure people might still be able to mine, hoard and transfer them, but governments can make it illegal for retailers to accept crypto.

And please don't shoot the messenger - This is all rhetoric. Merely logical speculations.
Click to expand...

So those who fall for the second part of this in order to get their files back only have themselves to kick should the extortionists not recover their files, and simply take the money and run.
 
Slootvreter said:
The bitcoin must somehow be converted into currency, meaning a bank account?
Click to expand...
Transactions cannot be traced because Bitcoins don't exist - you have to understand this concept before you'll understand that it is impossible to track the owner of a wallet down.

All that exists at that wallet is a list of transactions, but not transactions in the traditional sense. The "names" of the owners of the addresses are a string of random characters. So there's an enormous amount of anonymity involved here. He probably has a secondary wallet to which he first funnelled the coins as well.

The blockchain keeps track of all transactions that ever happened, as such the size of the blockchain is now 122GB. Good luck going through the 237.3 Billion transactions currently in the chain :p
 
YingYang said:
Transactions cannot be traced because Bitcoins don't exist - you have to understand this concept before you'll understand that it is impossible to track the owner of a wallet down.

All that exists at that wallet is a list of transactions, but not transactions in the traditional sense. The "names" of the owners of the addresses are a string of random characters. So there's an enormous amount of anonymity involved here. He probably has a secondary wallet to which he first funnelled the coins as well.

The blockchain keeps track of all transactions that ever happened, as such the size of the blockchain is now 122GB. Good luck going through the 237.3 Billion transactions currently in the chain :p
Click to expand...

Ah yes, I am actually aware of this, so this means they would not know who's bank details to go look for should the BTC be cashed out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X