Hackers who stole files from a law firm to stars like Lady Gaga and Drake doubled their ransom to $42 million and threatened to release 'dirty laundry' on Trump
- One of the top entertainment law firms in the US — Grubman, Shire, Meiselas and Sacks — was recently the target of a ransomware attack.
- REvil, the group behind the attack, on Thursday doubled their ransom to $42 million, Page Six reported.
- They also threatened to release "dirty laundry" on President Donald Trump if the amount wasn't paid.
- They did not elaborate on what the material might be. Sources told Page Six that Trump had never been a client of the firm.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A hacker group that stole 756 gigabytes of data from one of top US entertainment law firms has doubled their ransom to $42 million, and threatened to release "dirty laundry" on President Donald Trump if the money is not paid.
The firm represents clients across the entertainment industry including Lady Gaga, Drake, Elton John, Madonna, Robert De Niro, LeBron James, The Weeknd, and Priyanka Chopra.
Its founder, attorney Allen Grubman, was called "the most powerful attorney in the music business" by Vanity Fair in 2015.
Hacking group REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, originally asked for $21 million not to release the information.
They say their cache includes contracts, nondisclosure agreements, phone numbers, email addresses, and private correspondence, according to Variety.
On Thursday they doubled the ransom, threatening to also leak damaging information on Trump, Page Six reported.
"The ransom is now [doubled to] $42,000,000 … The next person we'll be publishing is Donald Trump. There's an election going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry," the hackers said in a new message on Thursday.
"Mr Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever. And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don't want to see him as president … The deadline is one week.
"Grubman, we will destroy your company down to the ground if we don't see the money," the hackers wrote.
Page Six said that Grubman is refusing to negotiate with the hackers.
An unnamed source told the outlet: "His view is, if he paid, the hackers might release the documents anyway. Plus the FBI has stated this hack is considered an act of international terrorism, and we don't negotiate with terrorists."
Grubman doesn't appear to be a supporter of the president either. According to Federal Election Commission filings, in 2019 and 2020 he contributed to the presidential campaigns of Democratic Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris.
Business Insider contacted the White House for comment on the hackers' threats, but did not immediately receive a response Friday morning.
The law firm gave a statement to Page Six saying that "our elections, our government and our personal information are under escalating attacks by foreign cybercriminals."
It said that "law firms are not immune from this malicious activity."
"We have been informed by the experts and the FBI that negotiating with or paying ransom to terrorists is a violation of federal criminal law. Even when enormous ransoms have been paid, the criminals often leak the documents anyway."
The same group targeted UK-based currency exchange company Travelex in January, which paid $2.3 million in bitcoin to get its stolen files back, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read the original article on Business Insider