• Advertise
  • Submit a Press Release
NewsBTC
Bitcoin & cryptocurrency news today, price & technical analysis
Price & Market
Cap Data from
Nomics Logo
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • TradeeToro
  • Gamble +Try
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • TradeeToro
  • Gamble +Try
No Result
View All Result
NewsBTC
No Result
View All Result
Price & Market
Cap Data from
Nomics Logo
Home Cryptocurrency news

University of California Falls Prey to $1.15M Crypto Ransom Scam

Cole Petersen by Cole Petersen
8 months ago
in Cryptocurrency news
Reading Time: 2min read
University of California Falls Prey to $1.15M Crypto Ransom Scam
Advertisement

It’s no secret that the crypto industry is rife with scams, hacks, and other nefarious activities, with the decentralized and private nature of many digital assets being conducive to these types of undertakings.

The latest group to fall victim to one of these scams is a school within the University of California system, who paid an online gang $1.14 million to gain access to files that were encrypted due to malware that spread throughout their computer system.

UC San Francisco Pays Cyber Gang $1.15 Million in Crypto 

According to a recent report from BBC – who followed the conversation between the two parties thanks to an anonymous source – the Netwalker criminal gang extorted over $1 million in Bitcoin from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) earlier this month.

5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!

Shortly after the malware had infected the university’s computer system, the IT department was directed to a page on the dark web the resembled a standard customer service page.

Crypto

Netwalker's website. Image courtesy of BBC News

They then engaged the criminals in a conversation on the site, who instructed that they pay $3 million in crypto to have access to their files and computers restored. Otherwise, they threatened, the files would all be wiped clean.

The University offered to pay $780,000, but the hackers claimed that this is not enough considering that the university makes “billions per year” and demanded they pay $1.5 million in crypto.

The university eventually offered a total of $1,140,895, which was accepted by the hackers.

The next day, 116.4 Bitcoin was transferred into the gang’s crypto wallets.

These actions run counter to recommendations from most law enforcement agencies across the globe, who argue against making contact or sending payment to any of these digital ransom rings.

Despite this, the university claims that it was imperative to send the crypto due to the locked files being valuable to “serving the public good.”

“The data that was encrypted is important to some of the academic work we pursue as a university serving the public good. We therefore made the difficult decision to pay some portion of the ransom, approximately $1.14 million, to the individuals behind the malware attack…”

Here’s Why Law Enforcement Argues Against Sending Crypto to Ransom Hackers

Ransom schemes are becoming commonplace, and law enforcement officials remain ardent in their stance against victims sending Bitcoin or any other crypto to these criminals.

Jan Op Gen Oorth – a Europol agent – stated that paying the ransom just encourages more of it to take place.

“Victims should not pay the ransom, as this finances criminals and encourages them to continue their illegal activities.”

Because crypto-assets like Bitcoin can easily be sent through a “mixer” that makes it incredibly difficult to track, it is unlikely that victims who pay these organizations will ever be able to recover the stolen funds.

Featured image from Shutterstock.
Tags: btcusdcrypto
TweetShare14
Nexo Logo
BitStarz Player Lands $2,459,124 Record Win! Could you be next big winner? Win up to $1,000,000 in One Spin at CryptoSlots
Cole Petersen

Cole Petersen

Cole is a cryptocurrency analyst based in Los Angeles. He studied at the University of California Irvine and has been interested in Bitcoin and the crypto markets since 2013.

Related Posts

How to Maximize Your Yield Farm Gains

How to Maximize Your Yield Farm Gains

3 hours ago
Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase to Go Public; What Does It Mean for BTC/USD?

Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase to Go Public; What Does It Mean for BTC/USD?

9 hours ago
Fastswap

FastSwap Set for Liquidity Aggregator and Binance Smart Chain Migration

10 hours ago
Bitcoin Sell-Off Resumes Ahead of Key Economic Data; What to Expect?

Bitcoin Sell-Off Resumes Ahead of Key Economic Data; What to Expect?

11 hours ago
bitcoin collateral

Summing Up The Case For Bitcoin As The Future Of Collateral

21 hours ago
Algorand, OKEx

OKEx Announces Support for USDT and USDC Stablecoins on the Algorand Blockchain

1 day ago

Premium Partners

Top Brokers

eToro

eToro

Review · Visit
Evolve Markets

Evolve Markets

Review · Visit
ArbiSmart

ArbiSmart

Review · Visit
PrimeXBT

PrimeXBT

Review · Visit
Moneta Markets

Moneta Markets

Review · Visit

Top Casinos

BitStarz

BitStarz

Review · Visit
mBit

mBit

Review · Visit
CryptoGames

CryptoGames

Review · Visit
Bonusfinder DE

Bonusfinder DE

Review · Visit
Bspin

Bspin

Review · Visit
Wolf Bet

Wolf Bet

Review · Visit

Top Sportsbooks

1xBit

1xBit

Review · Visit

Press Releases

Oxygen Protocol to List OXY Tokens on BitMax

February 24, 2021

HOPR Hosts Global Token Launch Event on February 24th after First-Of-Its-Kind DAO Experiment

February 24, 2021

Egoras- a Decentralized Finance Ecosystem for Growing Markets!

February 23, 2021

Newsletter Signup


ABOUT US

NewsBTC is a cryptocurrency news service that covers bitcoin news today, technical analysis & forecasts for bitcoin price and other altcoins. Here at NewsBTC, we are dedicated to enlightening everyone about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

We cover BTC news related to bitcoin exchanges, bitcoin mining and price forecasts for various cryptocurrencies.

COMPANY

  • Advertising
  • Comments Policy
  • Privacy Center
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Contact

Technical Analysis

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Ripple (XRP)
  • Chainlink (LINK)
  • Cardano (ADA)
  • Tezos (XTZ)

LINKS

Auto Trading Software ▸

Cryptocurrency news

  • Bitcoin
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Chainlink
  • Cardano
  • EOS
  • Tezos

© 2020 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

  • News
    • Bitcoin
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Cardano
    • Tezos
    • EOS
    • Chainlink
    • Sponsored
    • Press Releases
  • Analysis
    • Bitcoin (BTC)
    • Ethereum (ETH)
    • Cardano (ADA)
    • Chainlink (LINK)
    • Litecoin (LTC)
    • Tezos (XTZ)
    • Zcash (ZEC)
    • EOS
    • YearnFinance (YFI)
  • Education
    • Accepting Bitcoin payments
    • Using Bitcoin
    • What is Bitcoin Mining
    • How to Trade Bitcoin
    • How to Buy Bitcoin
    • Digital Currency Exchange
    • Proof of Existence
    • Is Bitcoin legal?
    • Bitcoin Books
  • Trading Course
  • Directory
    • Crypto Businesses
    • Bitcoin Brokers
    • Casinos
    • Sportsbooks
  • Trade
  • Gamble +

© 2020 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.