Experts: Beware of Brain Chiper Hacker's Sweet Promises to Release PDNS 2 Ransomware Key

Liputan6.com, Jakarta – The Brain Cipher hacker group that attacked the Temporary National Data Center (PDNS) 2 server has finally spoken out about the action. In a recent post, the group stated that it will provide the PDNS 2 data decryption key for free.

Responding to the statement, cyber security expert from Vaksincom Alfons Tanujaya stated that the statement was indeed issued by Brain Cipher via its website.

However, the action is also not immediately credible. The reason is, the group did not state clearly when the key was released.

“As an Indonesian, I am certainly happy, because there is my data in the PDN, which is not managed properly, haphazardly. Just be careful, don't be easily fooled by false promises either,” he said in a statement received, Tuesday (2/7/2024).

According to Alfons, with no definite time given by the hacker group, we should not immediately believe their statements.

“Unless he says this Wednesday, July 3, 2024, then we can believe it, he will release it on Wednesday,” he explained. In addition, with the certainty of the release date, the possibility of the group releasing will be greater.

The reason, Alfons said, is that there is honor among thieves. Which means, if Brain Cipher doesn’t release the key in the time they promised, they will be antagonized by fellow ransomware makers in the industry.

Moreover, there is another issue that needs attention. On its website, Brain Cipher also includes a counter that contains a countdown to the release time of the decryption key for PDNS 2.

However, the countdown information is written as 3,150 days. In fact, if we refer to the group's statement that will release the PDNS 2 decryption key on Wednesday, the time is around 12 or at most 24 hours.

“You divide that 3,150 days into 365 days, that's about 8.5 years from now. Maybe Wednesday, 8.5 years from now, it will be released, if it's in line with the counter,” said Alfons.

Therefore, Alfons said, it would be better for us to wait to see if Brain Cipher would actually release its decryption key. He also stated that he would make a donation if the group fulfilled its promise.

For the record, Brain Cipher hackers did say they received voluntary donations through the Monero digital wallet. According to Alfons, Monero was likely used because it is a Bitcoin account that is difficult to track.