A large criminal hacking gang that has repeatedly targeted the National Rifle Association and a number of entertainment companies posted an open letter on Monday stating that it had previously targeted the gun group.
“For many of our victims, such as the National Rifle Association and Sen. John McCain, it started as a love for firearms and fire arms and the nation’s Capitol building,” wrote the group, known as Waledac, along with a package of bitcoin currency.
“However, we became concerned that we were not being compensated fairly for the spectrum of work that we were performing for each client and began taking matters into our own hands.”
The Waledac group is known for its well-known cyber-heists and for demanding ransoms to unlock victims’ data. The ransom currency is widely accepted in the underground cyber-criminal market for delivering the material to its targets.
Waledac, a name derived from the first letter of each of its clients, posted a statement boasting of having previously targeted the NRA and Sen. John McCain.
Waledac claimed to be operated by Eric Eoin Marques, who goes by the online handles Takaelan or Kaiaki6.
“We do not take kindly to where payments are stolen from,” the hackers said in their open letter. “At the time of their release, they were being transferred to our AP to stabilize the Waledac ecosystem.”
“This exercise was designed to calibrate our AP and bots for future operations and to hone on their abilities so we may maximize and efficiently execute the demands set forth in the Waledac Ransom Note. We are not discriminating on the value we offer our clients for our exchanges, and Waledac victims have enjoyed protection to combat or attack Waledac servers, from something as little as 20 to 1 … when we are forced to raid.”
The FBI is investigating the breach.
One of the largest and most lucrative rackets to come out of underground cyber-crime, the group has also targeted digital-music retailers, mobile companies and banks. They’ve also promised to release child porn imagery to victims, which it’s done in several high-profile incidents.
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