Back in June this year, a hacker group and ransomware gang known as Brain Cipher compromised more than 210 institutions after it breached the servers of Indonesia’s Temporary National Data Centre (PDNS). It installed a variant of the LockBit 3.0 malware and then demanded that the Indonesian government pay them 131 billion Rupiah (~RM37 million) for the decryption key.
The Indonesian government said no.
Ransomware gang Brain Cipher announced they'll release decryption keys for free this Wednesday. They emphasized the need for cybersecurity funding and specialists. Apologies to Indonesia for the disruption. They request public acknowledgment of their decision. pic.twitter.com/FNNg0YsoAp
— Fusion Intelligence Center @ StealthMole (@stealthmole_int) July 1, 2024
That’s not the most surprising part of the story. After the Indonesian government denied them Brain Cipher any possibility of a ransom, The group then handed over the decryption key – a 54KB ESXi file – along with an apology for its actions.
Honestly though, it feels like a half-baked apology. The group added on that the incident should make it clear how important it was for the Indonesian government to finance its cybersecurity industry and to recruit qualified specialists. It also says that the attack wasn’t a part of a political ploy and that it was merely acting as a penetration tester with post payment.
"Brain Cipher" Distributes Decryption Keys for Free
They released an additional statement on their dark web site with answers to seven popular questions. It includes reasons for attacking the data center and thanking the citizens of Indonesia for their patience, among other… pic.twitter.com/ngv1HH848i
— Fusion Intelligence Center @ StealthMole (@stealthmole_int) July 3, 2024
The ransomware group also says that if the Indonesian government felt it wrong to thank the hackers for their charity in public, it could do so by leaving a “donation” via an included Monero wallet address.
The hackers also made it clear that this will be the last time it will ever give a victim its decryption key for free, boasting that “the attack was so easy that it took us very little time to unload the data and encrypt several thousand terabytes of information.”
In the aftermath of the attack, Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered that government data centres be audited.
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