As if the National Rifle Association doesn’t have enough problems, a Russian hacker group has allegedly penetrated the association’s systems and stolen some documents, possibly including emails. They have published a handful of them, primarily innocuous grant-related documents. Unless the NRA coughs up a ransom payment, the group says they will release more.
NBC News has fessed up to downloading the allegedly purloined files from the nation’s oldest civil rights organization. So far, it sounds like all the hackers have gotten their hands on is some pretty mundane stuff.
From NBC News.
A notorious Russian cybercriminal group has posted what appear to be National Rifle Association files to the dark web.
The group, known as Grief, posted 13 files to its website Wednesday and claimed to have hacked the NRA. It is threatening to release more of the files if not paid, though it did not publicly state how much.
Like many ransomware gangs, Grief often posts a handful files stolen from a victim in an efforts to spur a ransom payment…
The NRA didn’t respond when reached for comment. It did, however, post a tweet saying that “does not discuss matters relating to its physical or electronic security,” and that the organization “takes extraordinary measures to protect information regarding its members, donors, and operations.”
“NRA does not discuss matters relating to its physical or electronic security. However, the NRA takes extraordinary measures to protect information regarding its members, donors, and operations – and is vigilant in doing so.”–Andrew Arulanandam, managing dir., NRA Public Affairs
— NRA (@NRA) October 27, 2021
Most of the files viewed by NBC News relate to NRA grants. They include blank grant proposal forms, a list of recent grant recipients, an email to a recent grant winner earlier this month, as well as a W-9 form. The leak also includes the minutes from a Sept. 24 NRA teleconference meeting.
Whether or not the hacker group has actually has obtained sensitive files, we can all rest easy knowing the Biden administration Department of Justice will no doubt have an entire team of FBI and National Security Agents operatives on this case. Just as soon as they’re finished with their nationwide investigation into parents attending school board meetings.
I’m so happy my NRA membership expired 18months ago. That’s all I got…
Mine lasts until October of 2027 and I’m very happy with that as the NRA has fought tirelessly and continues to do so in spite of their recent problems!
My membership lasts forever+ and need now fairweather “friends” or Sunshine Patriots.
1st big purchase when I was getting an active duty paycheck from Uncle (long ago). No doubt today it would get me on an OBiden list.
Color me surprised.
Not one tiny bit…
yeah, I thought the russians were their buddies…but anything pertaining to Wayne might prove interesting…..
Cyber criminals don’t have buddies. If you’re in another country and have lots of funds you’re a target. Chinese Cyber criminals are just as bad as Russians. Maybe worse since they’re funded/sanctioned by the CCP.
The FBI may well have jurisdiction, but the desire or lets face it, the competence is something else all together. Where are the arrests/indictments for the hackers that crashed the gas pipelines this last Spring?
I wonder if Hillary was behind this attack. She knows her way around Russian scallawags.
To which board member was the head of IT security related to?
The hackers would get a bigger response from the NRA if they threatened to release details of WLP’s expense account.
Heck, I might throw a few bucks at the rooskies to publish that.
Might have a few bucks for anything they got on the Biden’s but I don’t think it matters as the media just sweeps it under the rug.
Yeah, but did Twitter block the files as part of their “hacked materials policy.”
They were probably trying to win that truck they were giving away.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of bastards.
Well if the bank account was hacked it was probably overdrawn anyway.
Did WLP order another batch of suits?
Grief Ransomware group is a spin off from Evil Corp. It might be that they won’t be able to pay any ransom without going through the Treasury department.
Then again I am against paying any ransom at all.
If it didn’t completely take them offline spend the money to get yourself back online.
What ever was exfiltrated will probably wind up on the dark we regardless.
And yes I bet twitter is having a field day boosting the file link despite being against policy.
They’ll pay in crypto in 3…2…
Probably BTC but maybe SHIB the way things are going, ROFL.
Not impressed. Wouldn’t mind at all if these russkie thugs got the bad end of a Hellfire missile, but the NRA? Who cares?! They ain’t even in this fight!
Not a dollar more until Wayne is Gone!
The indians who threw tea off a boat were not Native American.
Huh?
It’s mindblowing how many companies run completely outdated software to avoid the cost/hassel of an upgrade or getting their proprietary software to run on a new OS.
There was a hack locally last year where it turned out that this “tech savvy” company was running Windows NT 3.51 (!!!!).
Seriously? WTAF? That shit released when I was like eight years old. If Microsoft even supported it after Y2K they didn’t do it for long.
Also, the NRA’s software must suck. My dad and I BOTH canceled our memberships about two years ago and I still get his copy of American Rifleman like fucking clockwork when we spent the last several years of both of our memberships trying to get them to sort out which of us was which.
Tech savvy companies run unix-like operating systems, on premise, not in some cloud someplace halfway around the world. And, they keep their data on premise, or in an off-premise location that they control. Tech savvy companies don’t trust their ISP, Google, Amazon, Facebook, or much of anyone else.
That said – NT3 and NT4 are still interesting, in virtual machines and/or machines that are totally isolated from the web. Still – Unix-like is a lot better.
Text savvy companies may use unix-based security systems but no companies committed to security do.
For information that’s actually important, starting with “my company runs a unix-based system” is a good way to get you laughed out of the room.
Lol
Is this the same room where the decision was made to take down Parlor?
It’s incompetent security regardless of the platform but personally Id trust and support UNIX over windows any day, just for principal and ease. Ultimately the sysadmin and people responsible for managing it need to do better and ensure updates, patches, and security is appropriate.
All that said I’d love to see what comes of this and hope NRA feels the pinch.
And what exactly do you think they use? Certainly absolutely nothing from Microsoft is even remotely “secure”.
Unfortunately most of the corporate world was led down the garden path by Gates in the early days and are now so committed to the Microsoft monoculture as to be incapable of changing, even though switching to open-source Linux would save billions annually even allowing for purchasing support contracts on top of the free software.
Which is not to say that UNIX or Linux or their derivatives are “secure”. NOTHING is “secure”. Things are secure only until someone else doesn’t want them to be. But if you’re going to be insecure anyway, why pay billions for the privilege?
I’m still using 2 PCs with Win200Pro. But they are off the internet on a private LAN. My son and I use them for LANgaming. Many years of fun working together as a team while my son learns technology.
The NRA has shown they are a useless group. Just like the many local police have shown they where useless in 2020.
Rather than worrying so much about multi-factor authentication and running the newest latest greatest software that all just translates to putting someone else in charge of your IT security….
How about just NOT making certain things accessible to the entire world?
Publish the documents, who really cares?
But not one penny for ransom or there will never be dues or donations again.
Yeah, their only hope at this point is to take the position that they ave never done anything they would be so ashamed of that they’d pay a nickel to keep the world from finding out. If they pay a ransom they are done for, Wayne or not.
Now maybe we’ll find out how much Pepe LePew embezzled to pay his tailor.
How much did his “intern” cost?
Here we go again. The cheap ass stingy Far Right never miss a chance to denigrate the NRA. They would rather save a few pennies by not joining and then lose their entire gun collection tomorrow proving once again the Stingy Far Right are always their own worse enemies.
Forgotten of course are the facts that over the last 75 years the NRA, the most powerful gun lobby in the U.S., has saved the sorry asses of the cheap ass far right time and time again when it came to saving their 2A rights. But do these cheap Moron Hill Jacks ever thank the NRA or show their gratitude, no they only bitch about the few pennies they had to spend out of their rotted moldy wallets.
Yes the NRA has been recently caught in a corruptions scandal but did anyone ever see a huge organization that from time to time did not have a few bad apples in it.
And if you believe the bull crap from posters that say I will give to another organization its just pure lies as they are too cheap to do that either.
And remember the small fry gun rights organizations do not have the power that the NRA has either.
Before you cheer about more trouble for the NRA you are too damn dumb to realize that you are dancing on the floor that soon will have 2A in tatters at your feet. But that is way over your stingy heads.
The Scrap Iron dealers will thank you when they get to haul your gun collections off to the nearest smelter.
“The Scrap Iron dealers will thank you when they get to haul your gun collections off to the nearest smelter”
the lead smelters will be out of luck.
Oh no!
Anyways.
Maybe the NRA should have diverted some wardrobe money from Uncle Wayne and hired a better IT department. Just sayin’….
Dacian’s comment (“Yes the NRA has been recently caught in a corruptions scandal but did anyone ever see a huge organization that from time to time did not have a few bad apples in it.”) is excellent! Most organizations that have lightning rod(s) at the top take steps to right the ship. NRA has done the opposite. The NRA BOD has doubled down on its support for Wayne and the corruption and effectively neutered responsible alternatives.
You still cannot see the forest for the trees. Its still only the NRA that the politicians fear and yes they are still getting payola from the NRA because that is how the corrupt criminal
Founders of Capitalvania designed the system to run, on blind greed and corruption. Why do you think we do not have affordable health care or drug care or affordable education in Capitalvania, its because the Corrupt Politicians get paid off to screw the people blind. And Yes the NRA screws the people as well because they want payola from their most radical followers that are only a small percentage of their members who do want Universal Background Checks and safe storage laws.
You must take the good with the bad when dealing with the NRA because without it your ass would be grassed almost overnight and history has proved that many times in the past. I have been a member since since 1962 and yes they have made some major screw ups but the NRA is run by people not by Gods and although they have screwed up they have also done more good than harm to gun owners.
As a lifetime member, I say let them release the docs. Maybe it’ll finally get Wayne and his cronies out of there and get the NRA back to doing what it’s supposed to be doing which is protecting gun owners’ rights and not functioning as LaPierre’s personal piggy bank.
All the good places hacked already so you’re slumming? While you’re there find out what it is the head honcho does.
What the Ruskies don’t release the courts will.
It seems that dacian is (inadvertently) making a strong case for red flag laws. Suggest you turn it down.
Does this site have an “ignore/suppress dacian” button?
Dacian, I apprecate your comments about the NRA but take issue about “cheap” right wing folks. As you say, most large organizations have bad apples – as do a portion of those of all political leanings (more on the far left, though, i’d say). But having recently become an NRA Life member and then some, this long-time life member of the John Birch Society probably qualifies as right wing but not skinflint.
For those who claim to support other 2nd amendment boosters – Excellent! More power to you. We need pullers at the oars and there are plenty of oars available. As long as we keep our sights set on supporting the 2nd amendment in all its meanings, we have the best certainty to defeat those who seek to destroy it. Deus vult!