It’s a story that ends well. Victim of a ransomware cyberattack in 2019, a Dutch university will recover two and a half times the sum that was then extorted from it in bitcoins … thanks to the subsequent jump in the value of the cryptocurrency, reported the daily From Volkskrant.
Computer systems at Maastricht University in the south of the Netherlands had been locked down in 2019 by ransomware, a type of malware that hackers unlock after paying a certain amount of money. “The criminals had encrypted hundreds of Windows servers and backup systems, preventing 25,000 students and employees from accessing scientific data, the library and mail,” the daily said. From Volkskrant.
The hackers had demanded 200,000 euros in bitcoins to stop their cyberattack. After a week, the university had decided to accede to their request, personal data risking being lost, while students could not take exams or work on their theses, the newspaper continues.
Money that will be used for students in financial difficulty
However, Dutch police traced back part of the ransom, paid into an account belonging to a money launderer in Ukraine. In 2020, justice seized this man’s account, which contained different cryptocurrencies, including part of the amount paid by Maastricht.
“When, now, after more than two years, it was finally possible to get this money to the Netherlands, its value had gone from 40,000 euros to half a million euros,” the newspaper said. Maastricht University will recover the 500,000 euros ($521,000).
“This money will not go into a general fund, but into a fund intended to help students in financial difficulty,” said Michiel Borgers, director of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) at the University of Maastricht. The investigation into the computer attack on the university is still ongoing, added From Volkskrant.