Months after operators of REvil ransomware targeted high-profile entertainment law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks in May, stolen data from the cyberattack is now officially up for sale.
According to a report from Computer Weekly, the hacking group has formally opened its “first dark web auction of legal data” that has been stolen from Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks. The group plans to auction off documents from the firm’s top clients, including pop stars Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj, as well as basketball player LeBron James, with a starting price of $600,000 per celebrity.
“We have so many value files, and the lucky ones who buy these data will be satisfied for a very long time. Show business is not concerts and love of fans only — also it is big money and social manipulation, mud lurking behind the scenes and sexual scandals, drugs and treachery,” the group wrote on its web last week.
“After buying the data, some celebrity’s [sic] will get even more respect and love of fans, but for other half of celebrity’s [sic] their career will ride into the sunset, because there exist things that have no excuse, even for money,” the group added.
“Political and show business always close to each other and any dirt will get out sooner or later.”
Specifically, the group, which goes by the name Sodinokibi, claims to have 1.2GB of data on Carey, 1GB on Minaj, and another 600 on James. Each auction has a buy-out price of $1.5M, while all stolen data can be purchased for a total of $42m, Computer Weekly noted.
The breach was first discovered in May this year by security researchers at Emisoft Ltd. According to the firm, about 756 gigabytes of data has been stolen by the operators of REvil, which includes contracts, nondisclosure agreements, contact numbers, personal correspondence, and others.
“We can confirm that we’ve been victimized by a cyberattack,” Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks said in a press statement to Variety at the time “We have notified our clients and our staff. We have hired the world’s experts who specialize in this area, and we are working around the clock to address these matters.”
Considered one of the premier entertainment law firms in the country, Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks works with a variety of high-profile celebrities. Among its other clients include Lady Gaga, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Lil Nas X, The Weeknd, and more.
