Tuesday, July 27, 2021

After hacker attack on an IT company
Kasia: no ransom paid for keys

IT service provider Kasia, which was attacked by hackers, mysteriously obtains a decryption program to gain access to its customers’ computers. This has led to speculation whether the company could have paid the million-dollar ransom. Kasia dismissed it – but failed to provide an explanation.

IT services provider Kasia, recently hit by a hacker attack, has dismissed speculation that it may have paid a ransom for master keys to unlock its customers’ computers. No money went to the attackers, either directly or through others, stressed Kassia in a communication.

In early July, a group of hackers encrypted the computers of dozens of the company’s customers through a vulnerability in software. Last week, Kasia announced that they had found a master key that could be used to unlock a blocked computer.

The hackers had earlier demanded $70 million for such a decryption tool. Since Kasia did not provide any information about the origin of its master key, there was some speculation that the company could have purchased it from hackers.

However, the US company has now insisted that it has decided not to negotiate with the attackers. The origin of the master key remained unclear. Kasia assured, however, that 100 percent of the files encrypted during the attack could be saved.

Since many of the affected Kasia customers are themselves IT service providers for others, the impact of the attack reached Sweden, where the Coop supermarket chain was unable to open hundreds of stores due to poor checkout systems.