The Charity Commission inwards the United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland has issued an warning toward all charities most an extortionist grouping demanding betwixt £300 – £500 in bitcoin (approx. 1.03 to 1.72 BTC) or human face upward cyberattacks, if the ransom isn’t paid up.
In an warning issued toward UK-based charities today, the Charity Commission has revealed that a cyber-extortion grouping calling themselves the “RepKiller Team” are threatening businesses around the United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland amongst their extortionist demands.
The grouping is dissimilar other cyber-criminal extortionist groups who unremarkably run amongst distributed denial of service (DDoS) capabilities. As the mention suggests, the “RepKiller Team”, every bit the warning advisory states, launch cyberattacks against organizations yesteryear inundating the spider web amongst negative reviews of the business, inwards their hundreds.
The threat essentially is to harm the target’s reputation, which is as well as thence oft looked upward amongst a quick google search online.
The extortionist grouping own got made several attempts of blackmailing United Kingdom of Great Britain as well as Northern Ireland businesses over the yesteryear week, according to reports beingness gathered at Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud reporting center.
This advice is specially relevant for those charities which run overseas and/or bargain amongst international partners inwards high opportunity zones.
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The grouping own got sent emails demanding payment of betwixt £300 – £500 in Bitcoins [a shape of digital or ‘crypto’ currency] yesteryear a sure enough appointment as well as time.
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[Do] NOT reckon their demands as well as pay the ransom.
The demand, delivered yesteryear email, too contends that 1 time the group’s smearing crusade begins, it “cannot endure undone.”
Head of investigations as well as enforcement operations at the Commission, Carl Mehta said inwards a statement:
Charities ask to endure aware of the imminent danger posed yesteryear this fraudulent grouping as well as convey appropriate steps to protect their charity’s assets as well as adept reputation- both of which could endure damaged if the ransom demands of the grouping are met.
The possibility of bitcoin-seeking extortionists targeting charities is inwards hapless taste, especially when the cryptocurrency has as well as tin laissez passer the axe endure used for charitable causes inwards a plethora of ways. Micro-donations from a number of sources chop-chop adds upward as well as furthermore, at that topographic point are no fees that are usually charged yesteryear payment processors or bill of fare merchants. Furthermore, anyone inwards the basis tin laissez passer the axe donate to a charitable cause, anywhere else inwards the world, beyond geographical boundaries or without territorial restrictions.
The world’s largest non-profit charity started accepting bitcoin toward the terminate of 2014. Victoria van Eyk, caput of community evolution at ChangeTip, a pop platform that enables micropayments over social media websites as well as message boards has previously stated:
The ii best-use cases for bitcoin are micropayments as well as charitable giving, because of depression transaction fees as well as frictionless populace sharing on social media.
The disputation was made when ChangeTip chose BitGive, a bitcoin charity, inwards gild to create goodness from its tip redirect feature.
With today’s advisory, it is notable that at that topographic point own got been no reported incidents of charities becoming victims of extortion demands made yesteryear the group.
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