Diamond Jeweler Pays $7.5M Bitcoin Ransom to Russian Hackers

Graff Diamonds Corp, a London-based multinational jewelry company was forced to pay a $7.5 million ransom in Bitcoin to a Russian hacker group after receiving threats over data leakage on the company’s high-profile clients. Insurer Refusing to Pay Losses for Bitcoin Ransom According to a report from Bloomberg, Graff Diamonds Corp sued its insurer, The Travelers Companies Inc. for losses over the extortion alleging that the payment should be covered under their policy. The insurance company, on the other hand, is refusing to pay the jeweler. In September, Russia-based Ransomware group Conti leaked data on the luxury diamond jeweler’s client base which includes Middle East royalty. In an unusual move for the hacking group, Conti apologized to the families but threatened to leak more of Graff’s data. “Our goal is to publish as much of Graff’s information as possible regarding the financial declarations made by the US-UK-EU neo-liberal plutocracy, which engages in obnoxiously expensive purchases when their nations are crumbling under economic duress,” the group said at the time. Ransom was Paid at Bitcoin’s Highest Prices On November 3, the hacker group accepted half of its initial demand of $15 million to a Bitcoin wallet to stop more of its data from being published. With a payment of 118 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $7.5 million in November, the same amount is now worth as low as $2.3 million at the time of writing. This means Graff pai...