Ransomware group claims to have hacked 'all of Sony systems,' Sony is investigating
Sony says it is investigating a claim by a ransomware group that says it has hacked the company's systems and is now trying to sell the data it accessed.
The hack was reported by Cyber Security Connect, which said that a group calling itself Ransomed.vc claimed to have breached Sony's systems and accessed an unknown quantity of data. «We have successfully compromissed [sic] all of Sony systems,» Ransomed.vc wrote on its leak sites. «We won't ransom them! we will sell the data. due to sony not wanting to pay. DATA IS FOR SALE… WE ARE SELLING IT.»
The site said the hackers posted some «proof-of-hack data» but described it as «not particularly compelling,» and also said that the file tree for the alleged hack looks small, given the group's claim that it had compromised «all of Sony's systems.» A price for the hacked data isn't posted, but Ransomed.vc did list a «post date» of September 28, which is presumably when it will release the data publicly if no buyers are found.
While the hackers say they're not going to ransom the data, Ransomed.vc apparently does have a history of doing so, with a unique twist: Cybersecurity site Flashpoint said in August that Ransomed takes «a novel approach to extortion» by using the threat of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules to convince companies to pony up. By threatening to release data that exposes companies to potentially massive GDPR fines, the group may hope to convince them that paying a little now is better than paying a whole lot later.
«The group has disclosed ransom demands for its victims, which span from €50,000 EUR to €200,000 EUR,» Flashpoint explained. «For comparison, GDPR fines can climb into the millions and beyond—the highest ever was
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