The domain of Redbrick Company was hacked, and access was gained by the hackers who then transferred it to another company and demanded two lakh dollars to regain access. The company later filed a case against an unidentified individual at the BKC police station on January 5.
According to the FIR, the Kalina-based company, with the domain, www.redbrickoffices.com, has been registered with Reseller Club since 2014. The company utilises this domain for its day-to-day operations, creating email IDs or other office work.
Know how Redbrick Company's domain got hacked
On December 20, the company’s employee email IDs were blocked, hindering their work. The I-T department promptly informed the Reseller Club, which then reactivated the company’s domain.
Two days later, the domain was again entirely shut down. The IT director learned that the company owner had received an email stating, “Hi, pay $999999 in XMR to get back reply to get the address to pay.” The IT director suspected that scammers had accessed the company domain and sold it to another entity. The Reseller Club subsequently reactivated the domain. Later, the company’s customers received emails indicating a data breach.
Consequently, a case was filed under sections 43 (unauthorised access to computer systems), 65 (alteration of computer source code), 66 (computer-related dishonesty), and 66 (c) (identity theft) of the Information Technology Act. The FPJ attempted to contact Redbrick’s IT director but failed to get any answer.
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Insights from cyber experts
Cyber Expert Mayur Kulkarni stated, “If the company approaches the WWW (World Wide Web) for arbitration or appeals, WWW will promptly block the domain, returning it to the original users without any ransom payment. This entire process normally takes about a month. Such incidents are quite rare in our industry. Usually, hackers do not target the domain for monetary gain. Earlier, it was common for competitors to target and hack domains. Around 2005, hacking domains was relatively easier compared to the present scenario.”
FPJ Cyber Secure | FPJ
