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Attacker Holds Email Service Mad Mimi for Bitcoin Ransom
Bitcoin Ransom?
Email marketing service Mad Mimi was hit with a denial of service attack this past weekend. Soon after the attack, the email provider received an email from someone asking or rather holding Mad Mimi ransom for 1.8 bitcoins in order to stop launching attacks on them. According to Mark Nsd, the email reads:
“I don’t have to explain myself. I will stop the attack for 1.8 Bitcoin. Your network will be safe from further attacks, think twice before making your decision. Let me know if you are interested in my offer.”
As of today, 1.8 bitcoins are worth approximately $850.
Mad Mimi got another email from the attacker soon after, saying that they would stop their flood of attack for the time being, and that they’d give the provider a 24-hour window to respond.
The email service notified its users saying:
“A DDoS [Denial of Service] attack targets our network, essentially severing the link between our servers and the internet. Your data is safe but during the attack, it’s inaccessible.”
Mad Mimi has not given in to the demands of the attacker for bitcoin ransom. On Monday, the company posted that it had experienced issues due to security upgrades and the downtime suffered by its network provider GNAX. Law enforcement has been contacted regarding the attack.
The company has let it be known that they will not give in to hackers or thieves. Mad Mimi further stated:
“Blackmail and extortion don’t stop with acquiescence – it only encourages further attacks. As such, we’ve decided to not play along. By drawing a line, along with others like Meetup and Basecamp who’ve each faced this recently, we’re taking a stand against internet thieves and their attempts to subvert something vital to all of our livelihoods.”
Mad Mimi allows users a simple and fast way to make, send, share and track newsletters online. Over 40 million emails are sent through the service on a daily basis.
Access Denied
Cyber criminals have dug down deep to steal bitcoins off of exchanges and banks, and they are only getting craftier.
Firms such as Flexcoin and Mt. Gox have been infamously derailed due to such internet intrusions. Just recently, abnormal activity on the Neo & Bee bitcoin share trading scene caused the company to temporarily halt digital currency activities.
Mad Mimi’s experience being ransomed and blackmailed for bitcoins has added to what depths cyber attackers will stoop to. Even though the amount of bitcoins may not seem like much, it could have lead to something worse. The email marketing service did the right thing in not giving into the attackers demands.
Disclaimer: As far as we know, this was not an April fools day joke.
For more bitcoin news, stay tuned to CoinReport.
