U.S. federal investigators have identified executives at two ransomware negotiation firms who maintained unusually close ties with the ShinyHunters hacking group. One executive in the United States allegedly helped the group operate a website that pressured victims into paying ransoms. ShinyHunters, now led by a teenage hacker known as 'Rey' from Amman, Jordan, has extorted over $70 million this year.
The group recently breached the FBI’s recruitment website, stealing sensitive personnel data including medical records and Social Security numbers. The breach prompted swift action by the FBI, leading to the arrest of several individuals. In September, Dutch authorities arrested Pepijn van der Stap, a convicted hacker and ShinyHunters suspect, using his Signal messages to uncover a murder-for-hire plot.
These messages also linked Canadian cybersecurity executive Edward Dubrovsky, who was arrested in October and charged with extortion. Investigators found that Dubrovsky and at least one U.S.-based executive knew about ShinyHunters’ breaches—including the FBI hack—before victims were notified, and failed to report the data thefts.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing