Dutch university wins big after Bitcoin ransom returned
— Still ongoing, 000 ($ 208, Dpa, Personal data, Preventing 25, Tenfold increase, Relatively small amount, Even without, Partly, Different cryptocurrencies — 1 min read
Maastricht University was hit with a ransomware attack in 2019 that locked them, and their students, out of valuable data. The university agreed to pay a €200,000 ($208,000) ransom in Bitcoin after a week. Dutch police tracked down a bank account belonging to a money launderer in Ukraine. But the value of the Bitcoin held in the Ukrainian account has increased from its then-value of €40,000 to €500,000. Even without the rest of the original ransom being returned, the university has more than doubled its 2019 payout. This money will not go to a general fund, but into a fund to help financially strapped students, ICT director Michiel Borgers said. The investigation is still ongoing. Source