Conti Ransomware Group Diaries, Part IV: Cryptocrime
Summary: Leaked Conti chat logs show the group, which Chainalysis says made $180 million in extortion payments last year, pursuing crypto schemes beyond ransomware: a manager named Stern pushed to build its own blockchain platform for smart contracts and NFTs, and a $100,000 article contest on the Exploit forum was used to source ideas. Conti members also discussed DDoS attacks on mining pools to depress coin prices before buying, and a member named Ghost announced a pump-and-dump 24 hours before the SQUID token collapsed, with its developers making off with an estimated $3.38 million.
Why it matters: A group with $180 million in extortion revenue was reinvesting it into market manipulation and its own crypto infrastructure, so the wallet addresses and payment flows tied to a Conti intrusion may connect to schemes well beyond the original ransomware demand.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
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