A well-known ransomware group, LockBit, claims to have stolen 3,000 designs from Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket team and threatened to sell them to competitors. The LockBit group warned of an auction of certified images in a large data leak on March 20.
In a post on the dark web, LockBit said: "I would say we are lucky if SpaceX contractors prefer to talk. But I think this material will find the buyer as soon as possible. Elon Musk, we will help you sell your pictures to other manufacturers - build the ship faster and fly."
"And now about numbers: about 3,000 images certified by SpaceX engineers. We will launch the auction in a week. All AVAILABLE DATA will be PUBLISHED!'
The page shows a countdown, with only four days for SpaceX to pay undisclosed amounts to the ransomware group.
Under the post, there were also three'secret' documents that were allegedly leaked from Maximum Industries, a SpaceX contractor. These include vacuum machine design, confidentiality agreement between SpaceX and Maximum Industries, and kits for Starship.
MailOnline has contacted SpaceX and Maximum Industries to comment, but has not yet received an answer.
According to the United States Department of Justice, LockBit first appeared in early 2020 and has since generated at least $100 million from ransom victims worldwide.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been investigating the group since March 2020 and believes there are as many as 1,000 victims worldwide.
In November last year, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco of the Department of Justice said: 'Let this serve as another warning to ransomware players: working with partners around the world, the Department of Justice will continue to disrupt cyber threats and account for the perpetrators.
"With our partners, we will use every available tool to disrupt, prevent and punish cybercriminals," Monaco was quoted as saying by MailOnline.
LockBit attacks are not limited to the aerospace industry alone, cheese producer Bonta Viva and real estate Radium Life Technology also face similar ultimatums.
According to The Telegraph, the Royal Mail also reportedly rejected a 66m (Rp1.2 trillion) absurd claim from LockBit in January. The hacker, who is linked to Russia, is thought to have entered the Royal Mail software at a time when the company was already under pressure over staff strike.
Selain mengeluarkan ancaman, menurut Wired, LockBit dilaporkan juga mengadakan beberapa acara ke strangean yang menawarkan untuk membayar siapa saja sebesar 1.000 dolar AS (Rp15,3 juta) jika logonya ditato di tubuh mereka.
Allegations of threats to release the Starship file emerged after talks that it could explode during the launch of the first orbit which will last over the next few weeks.
If Musk fails to share that some Starship rockets are being built by SpaceX and he believes there is 80 percent chance one of them will reach orbit before the end of the year.
NASA relies on Starship to transport astronauts to the lunar surface in the next few years, while in the future, Musk wants to use the giant Starship to send large numbers of people to the Red Planet.
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