Brain Cipher Hacker Promises To Give Free PDNS 2 Data Encryption Key

Illustration of ransomware (photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Brain Cipher ransomware group announced that it will provide the key to encryption of the data they hold to the Indonesian government for free on Wednesday, July 3.

"This Wednesday, we will give you the key for free," the gang wrote in an announcement shared by the account X @Stealthmole_int, a cybersecurity company from Singapore.

Ransomware gang Brain Cipher announced they'll release decryption keys for free this Wednesday. They emphasized the need for cybersecurity funding and specialists. Apologies to Indonesia for the disruption. They request public acknowledgment of their decision. pic.twitter.com/FNNg0YsoAp

— Fusion Intelligence Center @ StealthMole (@stealthmole_int) July 1, 2024

Ransomware alley Brain Cipher announced they'll release encryption key for free this Wednesday. They emphasized the need for cybersecurity funding and specialists. Aplogies to Indonesia for the disruption. They request public knowledge of their decision. pic.twitter.com/FNNg0Ysop

In his statement, the hacker gang said that they hoped that this attack could provide lessons to the Indonesian government about the importance of recruiting qualified cyber specialists.

They also apologized to all Indonesian people for being affected by the ransomware attack that occurred at the Temporary National Data Center (PDNS) 2.

Our attack does not bring a political context, only a postpaid test. Indonesian citizens, we apologize because this has an impact on everyone," he continued.

At the end of the statement, the hacker gang also asked for free donations from the public, and hoped they could keep their promise to provide a free encryption key on Wednesday.

"We left the monero wallet for donations, we hope on Wednesday we will get something. And we repeat again: we will provide the key for free and on our own initiative," he concluded.

Previously, the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) had revealed that the disturbances that occurred on the PDNS 2 server occurred as a result of the Brain Chiper ransomware attack, a new variant of Lockbit 3.0.

From the attack, hackers demanded a ransom of 8 million US dollars or around Rp. 131 billion for the data they locked.

This attack also had an impact on data from 282 tenants or Ministries/Institutions that entrusted their data to be stored in PDNS 2.