NEW YORK– Hackers claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on the so-called “dark web” carried out in May against the auction house Christie’s and threatened to reveal the personal data of wealthy collectors, reported the American newspaper The New York Times.
According to the newspaper, a group calling itself “RansomHub” obtained information about the most successful art collectors on the planet and published some names and birthdays of the investors, in a message on Monday.
Although it is almost impossible to verify the advertisements of this group of hackers, cybersecurity experts consider them credible, indicated the New York Times.
“RansomHub” launched a countdown that expires on May 31 after which it threatened to reveal the data it had in its possession.
Asked on Tuesday by AFP, a spokesperson for the auction house responded: “Our investigation concluded that a third party had unauthorized access to certain parts of Christie’s network.”
“The group behind this incident obtained a limited amount of personal data related to some of our clients (but) there is no evidence that financial or contractual data was compromised,” the source said in an email.
In any case, it was indicated that the government authorities controlling and regulating virtual activities, as well as the affected clients, had been informed.
Christie’s has offices in London, New York and Paris and generates billions of dollars in the art market each year.
Source: With information from AFP.
