So called hacking group “Darkside hackers” have claimed that they have extorted millions of dollars from large profitable companies. Their reason for this; however, may not be what you expect. They say that they want to “make the world a better place.”
This mysterious group of now dubbed ‘Robin Hood’ hackers are donating stolen money to well-known charities.
The group posted a statement on the dark web that they have donated $10,000 in bitcoin to two high profile charities. This is being widely seen as strange and troubling as it presents both morally and legally troubling decisions for charities to make – to accept the money or refuse it.
One of these charities, named “Children International” have made a statement that they will not be keeping the money – “If the donation is linked to a hacker, we have no intention of keeping it.”
On the 13th of October, the hacker group posted an article claiming that they only target large profitable companies with their ransomware attacks. These attacks consist of the group cryptolocking business IT systems, essentially holding it hostage until a ransom is paid via cryptocurrency. Their reasoning for this can be summarised in a quote from this post “We think that it’s fair that some of the money the companies have paid will go to charity” and “No matter how bad you think our work is, we are pleased to know that we helped changed someone’s life.”
The above summarises the moral and legal issues with the Robin Hood hackers methodology of taking from the rich and giving to the poor. It is believed that this is the first time a criminal cyber organisation has donated their stolen profits to charity.