Charity institutions depend on generous donations of money and kind to help people in their community, across the country and around the world. Donations in kind are non-monetary contributions, such as food, clothing, equipment and medical supplies and of course mostly donations of money but what happens when hackers make these donations.
Normally, charities give these donations directly to people in need or to other charities for distribution. But a recent lawsuit against four bogus charities brought by the FTC and competent authorities in each state and the District of Columbia shows that this is not always the case. Some time ago there was the case by the Darkside hackers as they call themselves, they claim to have extorted millions of dollars from companies in the past, but they say that now they want to “make the world a better place.”
These hackers claim that they only target large profitable companies with their ransomware attacks. These attacks hold organization’s computer systems hostage until they pay a ransom.
The cybercriminals posted the donation along with the tax receipts they received in exchange for the 0.88 Bitcoin they had sent to two charities, The Water Project and Children International. Children International supports children, families and communities in India, the Philippines, Colombia, Ecuador, Zambia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the United States. “If the donation is linked to a hacker, we have no intention of keeping it,” a Children International spokesperson told the BBC.
Other reads:
Cybercriminals are targeting health institutions
The increase of cyberattacks estimated for this year
