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A comment on Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach. Parent comment

Re:Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach by timothevs on Saturday July 25, 2020 @07:39AM (#23948449)
They insist the hackers ‘verifiably’ deleted their copy of the data. I’d like to see how one verifies that ‘all’ copies were destroyed.
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Re:Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach by aboringusername on Saturday July 25, 2020 @09:45AM (#23949122)
Asks for ransom to delete data

Press release goes out, saying the data was "deleted"

Send another ransom, maybe 5 BTC, otherwise data is released

Insert taps on head meme

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Re:Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach by toyg on Saturday July 25, 2020 @01:42PM (#23951018)
Second time around, there is no real incentive to pay - fool me once etc etc

Imho it’s much better to just sit on it for a few months, then hit the usual forums to market it as high-quality data.

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Re:Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach by TheOtherHobbes on Saturday July 25, 2020 @05:42PM (#23952647)
The incentive to pay is that it nukes Blackbaud's credibility and trustworthiness, and likely destroys the entire business.

To a criminal that's easily worth an ask of 5BTC - or perhaps x% of annual profits in perpetuity.

An extortion scam is likely to be worth more than the data.

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Re:Blackbaud hack: More UK universities confirm breach by toyg on Sunday July 26, 2020 @04:55AM (#23955554)
Reputational damage happens anyway, once news of the first breach/ransom goes out (which it will, it’s increasingly mandated by law). Second time around they might as well fold.

A prolonged extortion scheme can only be done on a low-scale highly-targeted basis, where you can ensure word doesn’t get out.

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