Hackers who grabbed 756G of confidential data from a law firm representing some of the biggest music artists in the world announced this week they are selling files related to Madonna.
On May 25, the group known as REvil will auction the “Madonna data” it stole from Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks.
“The buyer has the right to do whatever he sees fit with the data received,” reads a message from the hackers, who promise to “delete our copy of the data.”
Bidding will start at $1 million U.S.
Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks has a client list that includes Lizzo, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Future, Bebe Rexha, Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey and Canadians stars Carly Rae Jepsen and The Weeknd.
REvil threatened to publish folders of contracts, telephone numbers, email addresses, personal correspondence and non-disclosure agreements unless the firm paid a $42 million U.S. ransom.
In a statement, the law firm said it is working with federal law enforcement and experts in ransomware attacks.
“The leaking of our clients’ documents is a despicable and illegal attack by these foreign cyberterrorists,” it said. “We have been informed by the experts and the FBI that negotiating with or paying ransom to terrorists is a violation of federal criminal law. Even when enormous ransoms have been paid, the criminals often leak the documents anyway.”
Brett Callow, a B.C-based threat analyst for Emsisoft, told iHeartRadio.ca on Tuesday that since Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks has said it is illegal to pay the ransom, “selling the data is the only way that REvil can monetize the attack.”
He added: “I believe it’s likely that the auction will indeed take place. Who may buy the data? Madonna herself, possibly.”