Security News > 2021 > March > Ziggy Ransomware Gang Offers Refunds to Victims

The Ziggy ransomware gang announced in early February they were getting out of the cybercrime business.

Threatpost reached out to the Ziggy admin and received a response: "Hello dear. Yes, I'm Ziggy ransomware developer. We decided to return victims' money because we fear law-enforcement action."

Ziggy also shared the files with ransomware expert Michael Gillespie, who made a free Ziggy decryption tool for victims to unlock their files.

Researcher M. Shahpasandi's noted in a message on Twitter how Ziggy victims can go get their money back.

On Feb. 7, the day Ziggy released the decryption keys, the exchange rate for Bitcoin was about 1 BTC to $39,000, just days after, Bitcoin's value spiked to just under $59,000 per BTC. That difference in value nets Ziggy a tidy little profit, while still technically returning the money.

"I gonna be ransomware hunter. We have some ideas to create other ransomware(s) decryption tool. There is some ways to recover PHOBOS ransomware victims files without paying money and now I'm working on PHOBOS ransomware free decryption tool. Just looking for a job Good luck."

News URL

https://threatpost.com/ziggy-ransomware-gang-offers-refund-to-victims/165124/