I know that title sounds a little messy, but this story is one that is turning out to be quite the mess for the NSA. A group of hackers (or as the internet has taught me to call them: Hackzors!!!) have clamied that they have hacked another group known as The Equation Group. While this may just sound like two groups going at each other, it should be noted that it’s heavily speculated that The Equation Group is an offshoot of the National Security Agency (NSA). That’s right! The NSA has their own hacking team that is totally probably not looking at normal citizens.
The Shadow Brokers (the hackers behind the apparent hack of the NSA hackers) have even released files including what many are saying are parts to the NSA’s tools used in surveillance. They are now demanding millions in bitcoins (specialized online currency) to release the rest via an auction. The hackers also released an official statement regarding the hack which goes as follows:
!!! Attention government sponsors of cyber warfare and those who profit from it !!!!
How much you pay for enemies cyber weapons? Not malware you find in networks. Both sides, RAT + LP, full state sponsor tool set? We find cyber weapons made by creators of stuxnet, duqu, flame. Kaspersky calls Equation Group. We follow Equation Group traffic. We find Equation Group source range. We hack Equation Group. We find many many Equation Group cyber weapons. You see pictures. We give you some Equation Group files free, you see. This is good proof no? You enjoy!!! You break many things. You find many intrusions. You write many words. But not all, we are auction the best files.
We don’t yet have any confirmation on the validity of the hack, but many security researchers think it more than some hoax to garner attention. Amnesty International technologist, Claudio Guarnieri posted to twitter with claims that the hack could be quite real.
This #EquationGroup free dump seems mostly binary builds, installation scripts, and general configuration for a C&C. Seems credible.
— Nex ~ Claudio (@botherder) August 15, 2016
This #EquationGroup free dump seems mostly binary builds, installation scripts, and general configuration for a C&C. Seems credible.
— Nex ~ Claudio (@botherder) August 15, 2016
There is still a lot of speculation on what exactly has taken/dumped along with where these hackers got it from. No official word from the NSA at this point, but we will continue to monitor the situation as it develops.
Via (Engadget)
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