Security News > 2021 > May > Chemical distributor pays $4.4 million to DarkSide ransomware
Chemical distribution company Brenntag paid a $4.4 million ransom in Bitcoin to the DarkSide ransomware gang to receive a decryptor for encrypted files and prevent the threat actors from publicly leaking stolen data.
From the information shared with BleepingComputer by an anonymous source, the DarkSide ransomware group claimed to have stolen 150GB of data during their attack.
DarkSide initially demanded a 133.65 Bitcoin ransom, valued at approximately $7.5 million at the time.
From the bitcoin address shared with BleepingComputer, we confirmed that Brenntag sent the ransom to the attackers on May 11th. Today, Brenntag shared a statement with BleepingComputer confirming that they suffered a security incident but did not outright state it was a ransomware attack.
DarkSide is a Ransomware-as-a-Service operation, which is when the ransomware developers partner with third-party affiliates, or hackers, who are responsible for gaining access to a network and encrypting devices.
One of the conditions for most ransomware negotiations is that the affiliate discloses how they gained access to a victim's network.