So, 10 days eventually turned into 28, and the dark hackers made good on their promise to the Nationalist Party that they had data to leak. The PN steadfastly refused to abide by the several deadlines issued, insisting that the matter was being dealt with by the police.
The data in question
Data including names, addresses, ID cards and, in less cases, phone numbers were published. Though the data appears to be from 2014, in the file published to a dark hackers’ forum indicates that the data is that of former and current tesserati.
A total of 1.3 gigabytes of data were uploaded, among which are details of 40 Under-8, Under-14 and Under-16 basketball players. Most of them are now adults, although the PN, together with the relevant authorities is doing its utmost to mitigate the impact of this data leak.
Party secretary-general Francis Zammit Dimech said as much to Times of Malta, and that they are “cooperating with the magisterial inquiry that is looking into the matter”.
The malware used & what to look out for
Zammit Dimech also called on anyone who has access to the data to not use it in any way. “The PN trusts that any person or entity privy to such data does not use any data emanating from this hacking attack, for any purpose, and, thus, become an accomplice to a crime”.
So, how did the malicious hackers get their hands on this data?
The cyberattack transpired through Avaddon ransomware, which usually arrives as a seemingly benign e-mail attachment. Once opened, the ransomware, through VPN and/or RDP (remote desk protocol), allows hackers to steal the data stored on the infected PC.
Usually targeting companies and businesses, this is the first time that a major political party was targeted in such a manner locally.
Examples of files that cybercriminals attach to their emails are malicious Microsoft Office documents, executable files (.exe), JavaScript files, PDF documents, and archive files (ZIP, RAR).
