Hacker Buba has released personal and financial information belonging to customers of a United Arab Emirates-based bank, after it failed to pay him a ransom of $3 million in bitcoins.
True to his word, the unknown individual dumped tens of thousands of records on the web. Up until then he had been releasing sensitive data via Twitter accounts, stating that he would continue in this endeavour unless a payment was made.
The files that have been made public are thought to be genuine, with Wired magazine, which has seen some of the documents, stating that they “appear” to contain credit card numbers and authorization codes for transactions.
In an email to the Daily Dot, Qasim Kazmi, assistant manager for general operations at Invest Bank, said that it would not bow to Hacker Buba’s demands, adding that it would never pay blackmailers or negotiate with them.
Attempting to gain leverage regardless, the fraudster even went so far as to contact some of the compromised account holders, who it is reported had not yet been informed by the bank that they had been affected.
However, in this instance, this hasn’t been enough to persuade Invest Bank to give into his demands.
“Yes, there was a data breach and we have been contacted by Hacker Buba. He is asking for money but I cannot reveal how much. This is blackmail,” the bank’s chief financial and operating officer was quoted by Gulf News as saying last month.
“We won’t give in to any extortion threat. In any case there has been no financial loss. All what this man has is some customer information and he’s trying to use it as a bargaining chip."
