Attackers Demand $7.5 Million in Monero after Hacking Argentine Telco

Argentina’s largest telecom was recently hit by ransomware, with the attackers demanding a huge ransom, and setting a deadline for today.

Telecom, a leading operator in the country, is being held for ransom by an unknown group of hackers, invezz.com reports. The operators, presumed to be the infamous REvil group, demand $7.5 million in Monero, a hard-to-trace crypto currency.

Several Twitter users who apparently caught wind of the incident early shared screen grabs of Telecom”s internal messaging about the hack. One user even obtained the ransom notes, which not only instruct Telecom how to make the payment and receive the decryptor, but also how to buy Monero.

Argentina's major telephone company, Telecom, just got hacked. Hackers requesting a ransom of $7.5 million in Monero. $XMR pic.twitter.com/AGNvAXh1cg

— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) July 19, 2020

The good news is the company”s systems are still firing on all cylinders. The bad news is the ransomware infection reached terminals holding sensitive data, the report says. In recent times, ransomware operators have typically leveraged the sensitivity of the data to press victims to pay, threatening either to delete the data or to make it public.

The attackers reportedly plan to double their ransom demand if Telecom fails to pay by the end of today.