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Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard's podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.
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A screenshot of the announcement on the Conti ransomware gang’s website.
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But Brett Callow, a researcher who focuses on ransomware at Emsisoft, is not so sure.“The nutso ramblings of a drunk? Either that or a statement intended to confuse and obfuscate. Smoke and mirrors. Some analysts have speculated that the apology is the result of pressure from the Russian government, but that seems unlikely,” he told Motherboard in an email. “A public apology like this would simply cause further embarrassment to the individuals it names. Also, Conti has hit Saudi-based companies in the past, so obviously has no problems operating in that part of the world.”The hackers, in any case, said they will continue to publish data obtained from Graff, especially “as much Graff's information a possible regarding the financial declarations made by the US-UK-EU Neo-liberal plutocracy, which engages in obnoxiously expensive purchases when their nations are crumbling under the economic crisis, unemployment, and COVID.” Subscribe to our cybersecurity podcast, CYBER. Subscribe to our new Twitch channel.Do you have more information about a ransomware incident or a ransomware gang? We’d love to hear from you. You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, Wickr/Telegram/Wire @lorenzofb, or email lorenzofb@vice.com