Post by @briankrebs__dup_6@infosec.exchange

2025-11-13 19:26 UTC

This is pretty wild. Checkout.com got hacked by a group that claims to be Shiny Hunters again. Checkout said in blog post that it would not be extorted by criminals. "We will not pay this ransom. Instead, we are turning this attack into an investment in security for our entire industry. We will be donating the ransom amount to Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Oxford Cyber Security Center to support their research in the fight against cybercrime." Far too many victim firms just pay up, to get back to business as usual asap. Imagine if a fraction of those victims instead paid into a fund for research that actively disrupts these groups. https://www.checkout.com/blog/protecting-our-merchants-standing-up-to-extortion

Replies (7)

@adisonverlice@tweesecake.social 2025-11-13 19:34

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange the problem with that is it was ultimately their fault. a university is not responsible for their servers, they are. no fund is going somehow freez the ransom. they should've been much better with their security than they were, then maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't have happened. it's like the incident with MGM, it's their fault. they should've done this way before the attack. yea, the ransom suspects are fucked up, but ultimately it's the venders fault, no questions asked. and this comes from a guy who does cyber security and vulnerability research in K12 products

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@FourT4@mastodonapp.uk 2025-11-13 20:21

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange curious, has anyone checked whether Shiny Hunters are the same as Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Oxford Cyber Security Center (sic)? 😃

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@CaptainMalu@mastodon.social 2025-11-13 20:47

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange Imagine they used the money before the attack for already known measures against these attacks. 🤯

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@xyhhx@nso.group 2025-11-13 21:30

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange holy based

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@jsmall@infosec.exchange 2025-11-13 21:31

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange Huge round of applause for this response.

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@gfidk@mastodon.social 2025-11-13 22:43

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange Brilliant!

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@maggieb@mstdn.social 2025-11-14 01:07

@briankrebs@infosec.exchange Is it just me or is this the baddest arsed Trojan horse ever?

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