Ukrainian researcher who leaked one year's worth of internal chat log of pro-Russian ransomware group 'Conti' responds to an interview
A few days after Russia's military invasion of Ukraine began, an internal chat log of the pro-Russian ransomware group
'I can fight with a keyboard': How one Ukrainian IT specialist exposed a notorious Russian ransomware gang --CNN Politics
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/30/politics/ukraine-hack-russian-ransomware-gang/
At the end of February 2022, Conti leaders announced a policy of 'formally supporting the Russian government', supporting cyber attacks on Ukraine and counterattacking organizations that launched cyber attacks on Russia. However, a few days later, some pro-Ukrainian rewrote the statement as 'not working with any government' and 'condemning the ongoing war' from January 29, 2021 to February 27, 2022. We sent all chat logs to journalists and cyber security researchers.
A ransomware attack group with 'pro-Russian policy' was attacked by a hacker near Ukraine and a year's worth of internal chat logs leaked --GIGAZINE
The leaked chat log also contains evidence suggesting that Conti's operatives were in contact with Russian government agencies, including the Federal Security Service (FSB), and the Russian government colluded with cybercriminals. It supports the long-standing suspicion that it may be. CNN has contacted and successfully interviewed a Ukrainian computer expert who performed this chat log leak.
The person, who gave himself the pseudonym 'Danylo,' has been working as a cybersecurity researcher for many years and has studied the underground cybercrime economy in Europe. Danylo said he first accessed the computer system used by the group that later became Conti in 2016, and although he didn't reveal the specific method, 'sometimes they make mistakes.' 'They make mistakes.' I had to catch them when I committed them. I was watching them so I was in the right place at the right time. '
Over the next few years, Danylo was lurking in hackers' computer servers, giving information about the group's operations to European law enforcement agencies. However, when Conti announced its support for the Russian government on February 25, Danylo changed his policy and decided to leak Conti's data widely. In an interview with CNN, Danylo laughed at the motive for the change, 'to prove they were shit,' navigating the military checkpoints at the time, looking for cigarettes, and the next air raid. He said he was exhausted for a long day looking up at the sky in preparation for.
According to Danylo, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has contacted him since he began leaking Conti data and asked him to stop the leak. This was because Conti could change the computer system in response to a data breach, making it difficult for the FBI to track. At the time of writing the article, Danylo seems to have stopped the data leak of Conti, but he seems to be able to access multiple Conti computer systems.
An American law enforcement officer spoken to by CNN said, 'It's reluctant to make information public (as Danylo did).' 'By working with law enforcement agencies, groups like Conti. Can have a more substantive and lasting impact on disrupting operations. ' Meanwhile, John Fokker, a former cybercrime investigator at the Dutch police, said, 'I'm convinced that the amount of data provided by the leak gave law enforcement the information they needed to write the indictments for key figures. 'We do,' he said, arguing that it could be useful for police officers chasing cybercriminals.
Before and after Ukraine established the 'IT Army' to protect important infrastructure and spy missions to the Russian army, it was reported that websites such as Russian government agencies went down, and IT experts in this war Also play their part. Mr. Danylo also brought a notebook PC to the air raid shelter at the beginning of the war and was working on the data leakage of Conti. After surviving the war for several weeks, he was finally able to escape Ukraine with his laptop this week.
'This is my job. I do it because I can do it,' Danylo told CNN. 'I can't shoot, but I can fight with a keyboard and mouse.'
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