Cyber authority to victims post-Shirbit hack: Get new identity cards

• Date: 06 December 2020
• Author: YONAH JEREMY BOB
• Published date: 06 December 2020
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

According to the INCD, other aspects of information gained by the hack are less problematic in the future, but hacked ID cards and driver's licenses could expose victims to identity theft and other impersonation schemes.

The Jerusalem Post has also learned that there is no imminent sense of any government authority being able to step in to take back the stolen information, to pay the ransomware group Black Shadow or to use any kind of offensive capabilities against the group before it can publicize more private information.

Rather, the overall feel is that "the horses have left the stable," that the damage is irreparable and any positive that can come from the current event is dissecting it so as to avoid future similar events.

As of Sunday morning, the Black Shadow group behind the cyberattack against Shirbit last week leaked a third round of the company's data after Shirbit declined to pay the ransom demand by 9 a.m.

In addition, the group leaked messages from alleged persons interested in purchasing the stolen Shirbit data for their own purposes.

At least one of the messages was from an individual who claimed to want to turn over the data to Iranian government officials.

There was no way to confirm the identities or truth of the alleged purchasers and some of the messages had grammatical errors, which could signify messages forged by Black Shadow personnel who may not be native English speakers.

The Israel Privacy Authority also issued a warning to the private sector on Sunday that many companies are not up to legal standards for defending their clients' private information.

The latest events came just a day after the group had already released more documents containing the personal information of Shirbit employees and customers over the weekend, as the company had initially refused to pay the ransom demanded.

Included in the released documents are screenshots of WhatsApp conversations, ID cards, marriage certificates and financial documents.

On Friday afternoon, Black Shadow released screenshots of negotiations held between a Shirbit representative and the hacker group. The negotiations did not end with a resolution and the hackers released more data later in the day.

That same morning, Shirbit announced that it does not intend to meet the hacker group's demand for payment, Israeli media reported.

On Wednesday night, Black Shadow demanded that Shirbit send 50 bitcoin ($961,110) to their bitcoin wallet within 24 hours or...