Technion University Under Attack – Ransom Note Demands Millions
This post is also available in: 
עברית (Hebrew)
It has been reported that the Israeli Technion university has fallen victim to a cyber attacked conducted by the ransomware groups DarkBit. An email was sent to all employees and students detailing a demand of 80 bitcoins (over six million new shekels) if the administration wants to retrieve access to the stolen information.
During late night hours, the servers of the Technion University were attacked by DarkBit, which led to voluntary withdrawal from all computing systems in the facility. The motivation for this attack is clear, as the ransom note details the following words: “They should pay for their lies and crimes, their names and shames. They should pay for occupation, war crimes against humanity, killing the people (not only Palestinians’ bodies, but also Israelis’ souls) and destroying the future and all dreams we had. They should pay for firing high-skilled experts.”
The ransom note continues to say that individuals have nothing to be worried about and that it is the task of the administration to follow up on given instructions to recover the network.
The attackers state that if the instructions will not be completed in the 48 hours deadline, a 30% penalty will be added to the price, and after 5 days the information will be put online for sale.
The official statement of the Israeli National Cyber Directorate that was relayed to Ynet news said that its experts are already amidst discussions with Technion personnel regarding the situation, “to receive the full picture, to aid in this situation and to examine its consequences.”
Furthermore, the National Directorate relayed that “the sector of higher education is a prime target for cyber-attacks: during 2022 the directorate identified and took care of 53 cyber events against academia, most of which were neutralized. The Directorate has been working with the institute to identify vulnerabilities and to implement protection.”
Prepared to dive into the world of futuristic technology? Attend INNOTECH 2023, the international convention and exhibition for cyber, HLS and innovation at Expo, Tel Aviv, on March 29th-30th
Interested in sponsoring / a display booth at the 2023 INNOTECH exhibition? Click here for details!
