Ransomware Gang claims Responsibility for Hack that Home Security Company Denies Happened

Claims are surfacing that Home Security company Ring has been hacked by a dangerous ransomware group called “ALPHV”. The gang, who claims they have successfully breached the amazon-owned security company, is threatening to release sensitive information if their ransom demands are not met.

Despite the claims of a successful breach, Ring themselves have denied such claims, stating “we currently have no indications that Ring has experienced a ransomware event,” according to Emma Daniels, a spokesperson for the company. However, Daniels continued that Ring was “aware of a third-party vendor that has experienced an event and we are working with them to learn more. This vendor does not have access to customer accounts.” Daniels did not reveal the identity of the third part vendor.

Brett Callow, a ransomware researcher for security firm Emsisoft, spoke to Gizmodo and told them that there has yet to be much information released regarding the ransomware event in question. However it does appear that if ALPHV says they’ve breached, there’s a good chance they actually have. Callow states that “No data has been released yet. Like other ransomware operations, ALPHV sometimes starts by simply naming victims. If that doesn’t result in payment, they then start releasing the stolen data.”

Callow continues that “it’s not uncommon for ransomware groups to overstate the extent of the data they obtained, but I don’t recall ALPHV having made any completely false claims in the past.”

Just as its normal for ransomware gangs to over exaggerate the extent of their attack, it’s just as common for companies to downplay the attacks against them. A recent example of this is the LastPass hack. Initially, LastPass claimed that that no customer data had been compromised. Over time, as the investigation progressed, the company has backtracked on that claim.

For now, we’ll just have to wait until more information is available before we can determine whose claims are correct. If history is any indicator, Ring may just be the next in a long line of victims backtracking on their claims.

Story via Gizmodo