Ransomware group follows through on threat to release personnel files of DC police officers
By Zachary Cohen and Geneva Sands, CNN
Updated 8:21 PM ET, Tue May 11, 2021
Washington (CNN)A ransomware group followed through on its threat to release the personnel files of Washington Metropolitan Police Department officers Tuesday after negotiators failed to meet their demands, according to screenshots of online posts by the group that were reviewed by CNN.
The group announced the contents of the negotiation chat, which show they had demanded $4 million from the police department, according to another screenshot posted online by DarkTracer, an account that monitors the dark web, though CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of that post.
On Tuesday, the group said it was posting 20 personnel files of officers after "negotiations reached a dead end" because the amount offered "does not suit us," according to the screenshots independently reviewed by CNN.
"If during tomorrow they do not raise the price, we will release all the data," the group added, the posts read.
Chats appear to show the police department making a final offer of "$100,000 to prevent the release of stolen data."
"This is unacceptable from our side," the ransomware actor responds.
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https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/11/politics/ransomware-dc-police-officers/index.html