Pierluigi Paganini July 18, 2022

The high-end British jeweler Graff paid a £6 million ransom after the ransomware attack it suffered in 2021.

In September 2021, the Conti ransomware gang hit high society jeweler Graff and threatens to release private details of world leaders, actors and tycoons

The customers of the company are the richest people on the globe, including Donald Trump, David Beckham,Tom Hanks, Samuel L Jackson, Alec Baldwin, and Sir Philip Green.

As proof of the hack, the group published on its leak site files related to purchases made by David Beckham, Oprah, and Donald Trump. The Conti gang leaked 69,000 confidential documents, leaked files include customer lists, invoices, receipts, and credit notes. Leaked data included info about purchases made by the royal families from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar.

The Russian hacking group claimed the information published, involving about 11,000 of Graff’s clients, represents just one percent of the stolen files.

The impact on the privacy of the customers could be greater than the value of the purchased jewels, some of the purchases may demonstrate embarrassing relationships between lovers and very important people.

Graff decided to pay a £6m ($7.5 million) ransom to Conti to avoid the leak of its customers’ data and sued its insurance company Travelers for refusing to cover the ransom payment. It seems that the initial request of the Conti gang was $15 million, but it was halved after a negotiation with the cybercrime gang.

“The criminals threatened targeted publication of our customers’ private purchases. We were determined to take all possible steps to protect their interests and so negotiated a payment which successfully neutralized that threat.” explained a company spokesperson. “We are extremely frustrated and disappointed by Travelers’ attempt to avoid settlement of this insured risk. They have left us with no option but to bring these recovery proceedings at the High Court.”

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Graff)

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