The recent problems with Christie’s auction house web services that disabled its online sales for a few days were allegedly a result of a calculated attack by a hacker group that got access to data on 500,000 clients.
Hackers from RansomHub group claimed they perpetrated the attack, having accessed sensitive information on more than 500,000 of Christie’s private clients. The group claimed they tried negotiating with Christie’s to gouge out payment for the stolen data but the auction house cut off communication with hackers.
RansomHub’s message on the dark web contained a sample of the compromised data, which included names, nationalities, and birth dates of some of the clients and collectors.
Following the cyberattack, Christie’s addressed the incident as a “technology security issue” and later notified privacy regulators, government agencies, and affected clients while cybersecurity experts verify the extent of the data compromise.
“We are taking all necessary steps to manage this matter, with the engagement of a team of additional technology experts. We will provide further updates to our clients as appropriate,” Christie’s said in a statement regarding the incident.
The hackers warned that failing to reach an agreement could lead to severe consequences, including heavy fines under the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and damage to Christie’s reputation.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
