AT&T has reportedly paid hackers the sum of $400,000 in Bitcoin according to self report from one of the cybercriminals

• AT&T might have paid out hackers to prevent sensitive data release
• The ransom payment was reportedly worth $400,000 in Bitcoin
• There are historic ransom payments involving cryptocurrencies in the US

There are new revelations that suggest telecoms giant AT&T Inc. allegedly paid hackers who claimed to have compromised the telecommunication network and stole sensitive information back in 2022. 

As per assertions by one of the hackers, the company paid $400,000 to the malicious group in what appears to be a ransom.

The AT&T Ransomware Payment To Hackers

According to a Bloomberg report, the hacker says they extorted $400,000 from AT&T to delete the data trove of sensitive call and text logs. These data were stolen from almost all of AT&T’s wireless customers over six months.

Media efforts to get the multinational telecommunications holding company to comment on the hacker’s claim on the ransom payment proved abortive. Similarly, the FBI and officials at the Department of Justice refused to acknowledge if the company made any payment at the time.

However, a ransomware expert who preferred anonymity due to the confidential nature of the subject confirmed AT&T paid out a ransom to the hacker. 

Additionally, the hacker provided a Bitcoin wallet address and an analysis of it revealed what experts consider a likely extortion transaction around mid-May.

Meanwhile, analysis by renowned Chainalysis Inc. of the publicly accessible ledger shows interesting movement. 

According to Chainalysis, there appears to be an extortion payment as an unknown entity deposited Bitcoin valued at $380,000 at the time into the wallet address that the hacker provided.

Subsequently, a smaller amount came from the wallet to that of a notorious hacker which Chainalysis refused to disclose. However, from its analysis, the company says it could not verify or ascertain if the payment was initiated by AT&T. 

It is also not clear if the telecommunication company used an intermediary.

Historic Ransomware Payments

Notably, the hacker had provided information and about a seven-minute video which they claimed was proof of them deleting the stolen data. According to them, it was done in fulfillment of their end of the bargain with AT&T.

However, other analysts say considering the details and sensitivity of the supposed stolen information which posed national security risks, the $400,000 was significantly low. 

They maintain that other ransomware attacks have extorted larger sums from corporate organizations.

A ready example was when Colonial Pipeline Co. experienced a data breach. The company had to pay $4.4 million to a group of hackers in 2021 as the attack had forced it to shut down its pipeline, affecting gas supplies to the East Coast of the United States.

• Kraken has partnered with Atlético de Madrid as its Official Crypto and Web3 Partner and Official Sleeve Partner, aiming to bridge the cryptocurrency industry and the sports world.
• The initiative aims to enhance fans’ digital experiences and promote cryptocurrency education.

“Kraken and Atlético de Madrid believe crypto and football both have the potential to transform lives,” CMO Gupta said.

The Terms of the Collaboration

The US-based cryptocurrency exchange – Kraken – announced its partnership with one of the most successful Spanish football teams – Atlético de Madrid. 

The company will become the club’s Official Crypto and Web3 Partner and its Official Sleeve Partner from the start of the new La Liga season (scheduled for mid-August this year).

The collaboration is expected to create a bridge between the cryptocurrency industry and the sports world, “unlocking great opportunities” for Spanish football fans and Kraken’s users. Speaking on the matter was Mayur Gupta – Chief Marketing Officer of the exchange:

“We’re proud to partner with such a distinguished football club, which equally recognizes that success requires a meticulous focus on its own processes. We’ve put in nearly 13 years to become one of the most trusted crypto platforms, and we look forward to collaborating with Atlético de Madrid to educate more people about the true potential and value of crypto.”

In turn, Oscar Mayo – Chief Revenue and Operating Officer of the club – described Kraken as “the ideal partner” that could help Atlético de Madrid, which aims to increase its efforts in innovation and technology. 

“We are sure that this partnership will ensure that our fans enjoy a digital experience which extends beyond matchdays at the stadium,” he added.

Atlético de Madrid has won 33 titles in its 121-year history, making it Spain’s fourth-most successful football team. The club in the second spot with 99 titles – FC Barcelona – has already jumped on the crypto bandwagon.

Two years ago, it teamed up with WhiteBIT. The latter will serve as Barca’s official cryptocurrency exchange partner until June 2025. 

Kraken’s Previous Endeavors in the Sports World

The company made the headlines last year when shaking hands with the popular Formula 1 team – Williams Racing. As a result, Kraken’s logo became visible on the cars driven by Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant. In addition, the brand was featured on the drivers’ clothing. 

Other well-known cryptocurrency exchanges that have made a serious presence in the past few years include Crypto.com and the now-defunct FTX. The former became the official partner of the Miami Grand Prix in 2022, while the latter inked a deal with Mercedes. 

However, the team suspended the collaboration shortly after the platform’s collapse in November 2021.

San Francisco, USA/California, July 15th, 2024, Chainwire

The doors are now open for Web3 and Web2 developers to build on Constellation Network’s long-awaited Hypergraph distributed ledger technology – in development for the past several years under various contracts with the US Department of Defense.

Constellation’s Global Metagraph Hackathon is a fully virtual event, free to enter, running from July 15th until September 9th, 2024. A total of $100,000 USD equivalent in $DAG (Constellation Network’s cryptocurrency) will be distributed to winners across several categories encompassing metagraph development and on-chain tooling, with the biggest single prize of $25,000 going to the most successful Metagraph.

With its Hackathon, Constellation officially unveils its “metagraph” application layer technology that runs on top of its Hypergraph global consensus layer to a worldwide audience. A metagraph can be any type of Layer 1 decentralized application (dApp) network or legacy Web2 network with its own internal business logic. Other blockchains can even be metagraphs on top of Constellation’s Hypergraph.

“Constellation’s Hypergraph is the blockchain of blockchains,” says Ben Jorgensen, CEO of Constellation Network. “The best way forward with Web3 and blockchain technology for all of us is interoperability and collaboration across chains and communities. There are many of us separately building these networks that can support things like decentralized AI, tokenized assets, IoT edge computing, decentralized finance and many other Web3 creations that seem to be popping up everywhere.”

“But the Hypergraph?” Ben continues, “This technology can link them all together, make everything interoperable, give them an underlying infrastructure that can secure their networks and validate their data flows.”

Panasonic and IBM have partnered with Constellation, along with SIMBA Chain, the C14 cryptocurrency on-ramping service, the Stardust Collective, and the National DigiFoundry, led by members from the US National Science Foundation, the US Space Force, and US Department of the Treasury, to support the development of innovative new metagraph technologies that interoperate in ways we have yet to see in the space. 

Constellation’s fast and feeless Hypergraph network is uniquely designed using DAG-based infrastructure and microservices to create an underlying digital transfer layer with a flexible structure and application network overlay (metagraph). This facilitates interoperability and composability across both Web3 and legacy Web2 networks, offering network security, data validation, scalability, and simplified onboarding that businesses and governments need for adoption.

“Interoperability” is a buzz word in the Web3 space, it can be explained as all the networks that need to talk to other networks – like a smart factory or city where multiple networks of IoT devices communicate and share data, each with its own unique metagraph network communicating across the underlying Hypergraph.  

“I’ve been waiting for this year since we started the company. It has always been our vision to have developer friendly and openly available blockchain tools for the masses. This hackathon marks the beginning of many expressions metagraphs have to offer and there seems to be no limit to the vast list of use cases. I am thankful for the team who made this possible as well as the partners who stepped up and helped make this a reality.”

– Benjamin Diggles, Chief Strategy Officer 

Constellation’s metagraphs can work with any data type, interface directly with external data sources, accept existing Scala or Java libraries, give complete control over validation and consensus logic within the network, and scale to the level applications need through multilayered microservice architecture. 

“With technology vetted by the rigorous standards of the US Department of Defense and with the collaboration of industry giants like Panasonic and IBM, this hackathon is more than a competition; it’s an invitation for developers worldwide to pioneer the next generation of decentralized applications and revolutionize the digital landscape.”

-Altif Brown, Global Community Architect

Judging

Hackathon submissions will be judged Sept 16-23, 2024, and winners will be announced on or around Sept. 30th. Hackathon judges include:

• Alan Boeme, former CTO of H&M, Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble
• David Beck, Branch Chief, Space Industrial Base & Supply Chain, U.S. Space Force
• Kevin Jackson, Forward Edge AI Vice President, Digital Assets
• Dr. Dragan Boscovic, Clinical Professor, Director AZ Blockchain Applied Research Center
• Ben Jorgensen, Co-founder and CEO, Constellation Network
• Benjamin Diggles, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Constellation Network
• Altif Brown, Co-founder, Constellation Network, and Chair, Stardust Collective
• Alex Brandes, CTO, Constellation Network
• Joao Carvalho, Technical Product Manager, Constellation Network
• Dagnum PI, Head of Marketing, Stardust Collective
• Andrea Mullaney, Ecosystem Marketing, Stardust Collective, Web3 Advisor
• Martien Van Loo, Ecosystem Advisor, Stardust Collective, CEO and Co-Founder, Bundle It, Tech Stars Mentor

Users can visit Constellation’s Metagraph Hackathon site to register and find full event details and supporting materials. 

Users can download the Stargazer Wallet to hold $DAG.

To find out more about Constellation Network: www.constellationnetwork.io

X/Twitter: https://x.com/Conste11ation and https://x.com/stardustco11ect 

Developer Discord: https://discord.gg/9PhXJKeAWC 

Telegram: https://t.me/constellationcommunity

Contact

Head of Marketing
Dagnum PI
Stardust Collective
dagnum@stardust-collective.org