CrowdStrike, a big name in cybersecurity (or maybe not anymore), dropped another bombshell on Wednesday evening. They announced that some private information about the hackers they’ve been tracking has been posted online for all to see. But that’s not all. The mysterious hacker behind this digital audacity is threatening to reveal even more interesting details.
Why are hackers threatening CrowdStrike?
According to the hackers, some of their information has been leaked online, and it’s allegedly a who’s who list of the digital universe. It includes a list of 244 prominent hacker groups on CrowdStrike-linked platforms, with details such as when they were last active, their status, country of origin, and the scope of their targets. This information is not entirely new – it mirrors data CrowdStrike has previously shared publicly. And that’s actually where it starts.
Here’s where it gets interesting: the hacker claims to have obtained a list of “Indicators of Compromise”. These are the digital breadcrumbs that cybersecurity experts use to track hacker groups. It’s like having the secret recipe for your grandmother’s famous cookies – valuable stuff in the right hands. So they say there is much more to it than what has been published.
But according to the latest from Dataconomy, there is nothing and it’s all completely fabricated. The company says that opportunists are trying to get on top of them because of the recent negative events that they have already published this information.
A hacker by any other name
The hacker (or hackers) behind this digital heist goes by the name USDoD. Their true identity? As mysterious as a cat’s thoughts. They chose to post their ill-gotten gains on BreachForums, an English-language forum frequented by hackers.
In a move that raised some eyebrows, CrowdStrike did not directly deny the hacker’s claims. Instead, it said in a blog post that it was not a leak and that the information was already available to “tens of thousands of customers, partners and potential customers – and hundreds of thousands of users”. So it’s like this information is publicly available.
This cyber mayhem comes on the heels of another misfortune for CrowdStrike. Just a few days ago, the company claimed responsibility for a massive computer crash that affected millions of Windows PCs worldwide. From Paris Olympics ticketing to hospitals and airlines, the glitch caused chaos on a global scale.
While there was no apparent connection between the glitch and the leak, CrowdStrike pointed out that “adversaries take advantage of current events to gain attention and profit.” They seem to suggest that this leak could have been an opportunistic move by the hacker.
The supposedly leaked database is a snapshot from June, but CrowdStrike says it was updated in July. This timeline suggests that the data was stolen last month. Only time will tell what happens next in this cyber soap opera. But one thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment in the world of cybersecurity!
Featured image credit: CrowdStrike
