An enigmatic hacking organization referred to as “Shadow Brokers” claims to have acquired vital information connected with the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and is now demanding 1 million Bitcoins (almost $570 million) in an auction to disclose more sensitive data.
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The NSA’s software is up for bid, and could even be publicly made available, if a deep-pocketed donor chips in up to 1 million bitcoins – nearly $600 million – to the hacker group The Shadow Brokers.
F-Secure’s Hypponen says it’s too early to know if more real bids will be made in the Shadow Brokers’ auction.
During their initial analysis of the Equation Group malware, Kaspersky said it found 20 different malware samples where the crooks used RC5 and RC6 code. This is good proof, no?
With the hacking group known as ShadowBrokers sounding the alarm, the stolen code exploded into view on Monday thanks to the group’s leak of a number of exploits they say were taken from NSA-linked hacking team Equation Group.
After a group of mysterious hackers claimed to have broken into the NSA and posted a portion of its stolen code, security researchers were left with a pressing, vexing question: Was the material released by the so-called “Shadow Brokers” actually from the NSA?
Experts said that a sample they have released for verification could be genuine. The leaked information is more likely to come from a compromised system outside the NSA’s networks that was hosting NSA malware.
In a series of messages posted to Twitter, Snowden suggested the leak was the fruit of a Russian attack on an NSA malware server and could be aimed at heading off US retaliation over allegations that the Kremlin was trying interfere in America’s electoral process.
The US National Security Agency’s most elite hackers use some very odd names for their hacking tools and exploits.
The exposed source code dates from the middle of 2013, when the NSA closed many of its servers and transferred data to new ones after the revelations made by Edward Snowden. The fact that NSA got hacked caused a surprise and mild disapproval in itself.
“You’re welcome, @NSAGov. Lots of love”, Snowden tweeted.
The NSA hasn’t commented on the alleged leak. “Without a doubt, they’re the keys to the kingdom”, a former TAO employee tells The Washington Post.
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Kaspersky Lab, one of several security firms that have analyzed the leaked tools, said code from the Shadow Brokers leak shares a strong connection with code from the Equation Group. The New York Times reported that the NSA was deeply involved in the creation and deployment of Stuxnet, an unprecedented cyberweapon. That could have major diplomatic fallout if, for instance, the tools were linked to spying on US allies, Snowden argued.
