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Tag: extortion

115 articles

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Instructure Thwarts ShinyHunters Data Leak with Agreement

Instructure has taken swift action to protect its community by reaching an agreement with the ShinyHunters extortion group, successfully retrieving stolen data and ensuring its destruction. This move puts the minds of its 30 million users at ease, prioritizing their security and well-being.

Analyst 207
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Instructure Pays Ransom to ShinyHunters to Prevent 3.65TB Canvas Data Leak

In a stunning move, Instructure paid a ransom to the notorious ShinyHunters group to prevent a massive 3.65TB data leak from its Canvas learning-management system. The Utah-based company reached a deal with the hackers, securing the safe return of stolen data and a guarantee that its customers wouldn't be extorted individually.

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Empty college corridor with students and faculty showing subtle concern.

Instructure Discloses Double Breach Amid ShinyHunters' Data Leak Threat

In a shocking security breach, Instructure, the creator of Canvas, revealed not one, but two separate intrusions into its system, leaving thousands of schools and students scrambling for access to crucial course materials during final exams. The breaches come as an extortion group, ShinyHunters, threatens to leak a massive 3.65 TB of stolen data.

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Students and faculty walk down a brightly-lit school hallway, with a laptop on a desk in the foreground.

ShinyHunters Targets Education Sector with School-by-School Ransom Push

ShinyHunters has launched a targeted ransom attack on the education sector, exploiting a vulnerability in Canvas Learning Management System to steal a staggering 275 million records from nearly 9,000 schools and universities. The timing couldn't be more critical, with exams already underway and academic years wrapping up.

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ShinyHunters Breach Exposes 9,000 Schools in Canvas Hack

A massive data breach has hit Canvas, a popular learning management system, with hackers claiming to have stolen several terabytes of sensitive data, including personal info for 275 million users, from 9,000 schools. The notorious ShinyHunters group is now demanding action, threatening to leak everything if their demands aren't met.

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Concerned students in a college computer lab check phones and laptops, with a login page hinting at a ransom message in the…

ShinyHunters Breach Disrupts Canvas Education Platform Nationwide

A massive cyberattack by ShinyHunters has disrupted the Canvas Education Platform nationwide, with hackers defacing login pages and holding sensitive data on 275 million students and faculty hostage. The breach forced Instructure to pull Canvas offline, leaving students and faculty in the dark.

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Rows of computer servers with flickering screens and dimmed lights suggest a breach or disruption in a technology company's…

RansomHouse Hackers Claim Breach of Trellix Source Code

Trellix has confirmed a breach of its source code repository, with hackers from the notorious RansomHouse group claiming to have accessed and encrypted sensitive data on April 17. The group has even posted leaked screenshots to back up its claims.

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Blurred laptop screen shows Canvas login page in bright college library setting.

ShinyHunters Breach Exposes 330 Colleges in Canvas Hack

The notorious ShinyHunters gang has breached Instructure's Canvas, exposing a staggering 330 colleges to a devastating hack, and issued a chilling ultimatum with a May 2026 deadline to negotiate. The attackers replaced login pages with an extortion message, demanding schools seek cyber advisory help and secretly reach out to settle.

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Karakurt Ransomware Operative Sentenced for Extortion Role

Meet Deniss Zolotarjovs, a Latvian national who helped his ransomware gang extort dozens of companies - and even a government entity with a crippled 911 system - by leveraging stolen sensitive data, including children's health information. He's now facing 8.5 years in prison for his role in the Karakurt extortion operation.

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Pro-Iran Hackers Extort Canonical with Sustained DDoS Attacks

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, is battling a relentless cyber assault, with its website crippled by a sustained Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that has left its main site inaccessible. The Islamic Cyber Resistance in Iraq, also known as 313 Team, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Two men in formal attire sit in a courtroom with a judge's bench in the background under natural light.

US Cybersecurity Workers Jailed for Aiding BlackCat Ransomware Gang

Meet Ryan Goldberg and Kevin Martin, two cybersecurity experts who abused their skills to line their pockets by aiding the notorious BlackCat ransomware gang. They've been sentenced to four years in prison for their roles in facilitating devastating ransomware attacks.

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Ransomware Negotiators Sentenced for BlackCat Attacks

Two former cybersecurity experts, who once worked to protect companies, were sentenced to four years in prison for using their skills to extort US businesses as affiliates of the notorious BlackCat ransomware gang. They exploited their specialized knowledge to orchestrate attacks on US companies, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.

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US Charges Scattered Spider Hacker with Extortion, Cyber Intrusion

A 19-year-old hacker, known online as "Bouquet," has been arrested in Finland and charged in the US with extortion and cyber intrusion as a key player in the notorious Scattered Spider hacking collective. The dual US and Estonian citizen was caught at Helsinki airport while trying to flee to Japan.

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Large, empty development environment with rows of code on sleek computer screens against a neutral background.

Checkmarx GitHub Data Leaked by LAPSUS$ Hackers

Checkmarx confirmed that hackers from the LAPSUS$ group breached its GitHub repository on March 23, 2026, and published stolen data on April 22, after a series of supply-chain and credential-theft events. The attackers used the access to publish malicious code to certain artifacts, compromising the integrity of Checkmarx's software development process.

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Rows of server racks in a brightly-lit data center with equipment slightly askew, hinting at unauthorized access.

ADT Confirms Cyber Intrusion After ShinyHunters Extortion Attempt

ADT confirmed a cyber intrusion on April 20, swiftly isolating the breach and collaborating with incident responders and law enforcement to contain the damage. The compromised data included sensitive information like names, phone numbers, and addresses, as well as dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers for a smaller subset of individuals.

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Blurred customer information sheet on a cluttered office desk with scattered papers and a pen.

ADT Confirms Data Breach After ShinyHunters Extortion Threat

ADT confirmed a data breach after a threat from hackers known as ShinyHunters, who demanded an extortion payment. The breach exposed sensitive customer info, including names, phone numbers, addresses, and in some cases, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.

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Carnival Breach Exposes 7.5M Emails in Alleged ShinyHunters Hack

A massive data breach at Carnival Corporation has exposed a whopping 7.5 million emails, allegedly at the hands of the notorious ShinyHunters hack group, after failed negotiations between the two parties left customers' sensitive information vulnerable. The breach is said to have yielded terabytes of internal corporate data, sparking concerns for customers and the company behind Holland America Line.

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Former ransomware negotiator sits contemplative in dimly lit room with laptop and papers.

Former Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty to Aiding BlackCat Cyber Gang

A former ransomware negotiator turned rogue, Angelo Martino has pleaded guilty to aiding the notorious BlackCat cyber gang, betraying his employer and the industry he was meant to serve. By secretly collaborating with BlackCat, Martino launched devastating ransomware attacks, causing harm to innocent victims and lining his own pockets.

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Person in hoodie sits before laptop with ransom demand, cityscape behind, cash and phone discarded beside.

Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty to Aiding BlackCat Extortions

Meet Angelo Martino, a 41-year-old from Florida who just pleaded guilty to helping the notorious BlackCat ransomware gang extort even bigger payouts from US companies. Martino teamed up with the BlackCat operators in April 2023, marking the start of his involvement in their malicious activities.

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Person in handcuffs stands before dark cityscape with faint glow of screens.

Former Ransomware Negotiator Pleads Guilty in High-Profile Gang Case

In a shocking twist, a former ransomware negotiator has pleaded guilty to aiding the notorious ALPHV/BlackCat gang in extorting millions from US businesses, raising disturbing questions about the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator. This comes on the heels of a nonprofit organization paying a staggering $26.8 million ransom.

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Cracked laptop screen with ghostly face, cityscape, and shattered coffee cup spills coffee on papers, symbolizing data…

McGraw Hill Breach Exposes 13.5 Million User Accounts

A massive data breach at McGraw Hill has exposed the personal and academic records of 13.5 million students and educators, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by the ShinyHunters extortion group. The breach, which targeted McGraw Hill's Salesforce environment, has raised urgent concerns about digital security and data protection in the education sector.

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Dimly lit security room with monitors displaying code, a cluttered desk, and a cityscape at dusk through a large window.

Kraken Faces Extortion Threat After Insider Breach

Kraken is facing a sinister threat: a cybercrime group is trying to extort the cryptocurrency exchange by leaking videos of its internal systems that host client data, allegedly obtained from an insider breach. The attackers are holding Kraken hostage, demanding a payoff to keep sensitive customer information under wraps.

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Shattered laptop screen with eerie glow amidst scattered papers and broken glass, symbolizing sensitive data breach.

Rockstar Games Data Breach Exposes Sensitive Analytics Information

Rockstar Games has suffered a data breach, with sensitive analytics information - including insights into the behavior of millions of players - leaked by the ShinyHunters extortion gang on a criminal site. The breach is linked to a recent security incident at Anodot, a company used by Rockstar Games.

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Person in a hoodie surrounded by screens with helpdesk software, face obscured, in a dark room with cityscape visible…

Phishing Gang Targets Dozens of Corporations in Helpdesk Scam Spree

Beware of the person on the other end of the line - a new phishing gang is impersonating IT helpdesks to scam dozens of major corporations, leaving investigators racing to keep up. Google is sounding the alarm on this latest extortion tactic, which uses clever social engineering to catch victims off guard.

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