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Tags: hackers | revil | ransom

Hacked Celebrity Law Firm Says It Has No Trump Ties

cybersecurity
(Adam121/Dreamstime.com)

By    |   Sunday, 17 May 2020 05:34 PM EDT

The celebrity law firm hacked last week said it has no relationship with President Donald Trump after the group threatened to reveal "dirty laundry" about the president, reports CNN.

Grubman, Shire, Meiselas & Sacks, P.C. confirmed to the news outlet on Saturday that Trump has never been a client of theirs. The firm is run by star lawyer Allen Grubman, the most prominent entertainment attorney in the world. Some of his clients include Lady Gaga, Madonna, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey, Bette Midler, and Priyanka Chopra.

The hacking group REvil last Thursday demanded $42 million and said it would reveal Trump's "dirty laundry" in just a week if the money is not paid in full. The group stole 756 gigabytes of confidential documents, including contracts and personal emails, and also deleted or encrypted the firm's backups. The only way the files can be decrypted is to pay the criminals for a key.

"The ransom is now [doubled to] $42,000,000," the hackers said Thursday. "The next person we'll be publishing is Donald Trump. There's an election going on, and we found a ton of dirty laundry on time.

"Mr. Trump, if you want to stay president, poke a sharp stick at the guys, otherwise you may forget this ambition forever. And to you voters, we can let you know that after such a publication, you certainly don't want to see him as president … The deadline is one week."

A spokesperson for Grubman, Shire, Meiselas & Sacks, P.C. said it would not pay the ransom.

"We have been informed by the experts and the FBI that negotiating with or paying ransom to terrorists is a violation of federal criminal law," the spokesperson said. "Even when enormous ransoms have been paid, the criminals often leak the documents anyway."

Solange Reyner

Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.

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Politics
The celebrity law firm hacked last week said it has no relationship with President Donald Trump after the group threatened to reveal "dirty laundry" about the president, reports CNN.
hackers, revil, ransom
297
2020-34-17
Sunday, 17 May 2020 05:34 PM
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