14 DAY TRIAL // A group of hackers is trying to blackmail three Israeli banks. The cybercriminals claim to have stolen the details of 3.7 million customers and they threaten to sell the information on the underground market unless the organizations pay up.
According to Israel Hayom, the banks are Yahav, Discount Bank and First International Bank of Israel. The hackers are demanding a certain amount of money in Bitcoin.
The attackers claim to have obtained the financial information with the aid of a massive botnet that stole credit card details and passwords from the computers of Israeli users.
The financial institutions have alerted authorities. While they’ve declined to comment on the allegations, unnamed officials have revealed that the threat is not considered serious.
There have been cases of organizations that paid money to cybercriminals, but it’s usually related to ransomware that encrypts sensitive files. I’ve never heard of a company giving in to blackmail, but it’s possible that there are cases that haven’t made the press.