The Dark Overlord is at it again. The mysterious hacking syndicate has now published decryption keys for over 650 confidential and highly sensitive documents related to the 9/11 terror attacks, and they are promising more to come.
The documents were held by a US law firm that advises the British insurance company Hiscox. While Hiscox reported the data breach in April 2018, it only confirmed that some of the documents included unseen information about 9/11 on December 31. They claim that the hackers stole hundreds of thousands of documents, tens of thousands of those being 9/11-related. Hiscox’s own infrastructure was not affected.
In a message posted to Pastebin, the hackers also claimed to have access to highly-sensitive 9/11 documents from Lloyd’s of London.
“It wasn’t just Hiscox Syndicates Ltd that was put at risk, it was Lloyds of London as well as others…
Hiscox Syndicates Ltd and Lloyds of London are some of the biggest insurers on the planet insuring everything from the smallest policies to some of the largest policies on the planet, and who even insured structures such as the World Trade Centers.”
The message goes on to claim that commercial real estate firm Silverstein Properties was also involved in the breach.
Mocking Hiscox’s vague April press release, the hackers claim that while the US firm whose infrastructure they penetrated had paid them off, they also broke the contract they had entered into with the hackers by contacting law enforcement. The hackers are now punishing them by releasing the documents anyway (and keeping the money, of course).
Claiming that the world is about to see extremely sensitive security information, The Dark Overlord said that the firms themselves are to blame.
“Most of you readers will not be privy to the processes and methods utilised by Fortune 500s to litigate high-impact cases, but we are, and thankfully for us, we’re going to let you in on this process. When major incidents like the WTC 911 incident happen, part of the litigation must involve SSI (Sensitive Security Information) and SCI (Special Compartment Information) from the likes of the FBI, CIA, TSA, FAA, DOD, and others being introduced into evidence, but of course this can’t become public, for fear of compromising a nation’s security, so they temporarily release these materials to the solicitor firms involved in the litigation with the strict demand they’re destroyed after their use and that remain highly protected and confidential to only be used behind closed doors. However, humans aren’t perfect and many of these documents don’t become destroyed, and when thedarkoverlord comes along hacking all these solicitor firms, investment banks, and global insurers, we stumble upon the juiciest secrets a government has to offer.”
The hackers included a truly ominous offer to America’s enemies:
“For those of you who are most interested in acquiring the entire set of documents, which counts at over 18.000 documents, to include .doc, .pdf, .ppt, .xls, .tif, .msg, and many other interesting formats (or just to acquire the most highly secret and confidential documents), the good news for you is that we’ll be selling these documents for a limited time. If you’re a terrorist organisation such as ISIS/ISIL, Al-Qaeda, or a competing nation state of the USA such as China or Russia, you’re welcome to purchase our trove of documents.
In yet another example of what the hackers themselves describe as “demonic fits of hacking,” they claim the new documents “will top Edward Snowden’s finest work, both in volume and in impact.” It remains to be seen who will be harmed most by the revelations.
This isn’t The Dark Overlord’s only high-profile hack, but it is by far the most devastating. In 2017, they hacked Larson Studios and stole a season of HBO’s hit show “Orange Is The New Black.” They leaked it online despite receiving a $50,000 random payment. The leak was a punishment for Larson contacting the FBI.
There’s no doubt that people around the world are worried about what might come out in these document and the hackers are offering those who can expect to be humiliated a chance to protect their reputations, for an undisclosed price:
“If you’re one of the dozens of solicitor firms who was involved in the litigation, a politician who was involved in the case, a law enforcement agency who was involved in the investigations, a property management firm, an investment bank, a client of a client, a reference of a reference, a global insurer, or whoever else, you’re welcome to contact our e-mail below and make a request to formally have your documents and materials withdrawn from any eventual public release of the materials. However, you’ll be paying us.”
A Bitcoin wallet linked to the fiasco currently shows 20 completed transactions. The hackers have been clear that they are motivated not by any political agenda, but solely by financial gain.
They have promised to continue releasing decryption keys to new caches of documents if they are not compensated by those affected. But it appears that anyone who contacts law enforcement over the issue will be out of luck and have their data leaked anyway.
It seems that the morbidly curious and 9/11 conspiracy theorists could be driving the release of this information. The Dark Overlord only releases decryption keys after they successfully complete crowdfunding campaigns and there have been more than enough willing donors.
Stay tuned for updates on this story as they become available.
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