The Hacker News
"U.S. government entity paid Kairos $1 million in data theft extortion case." Views expressed in this cybersecurity, cyber crime update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 05 July 2026, 1537 UTC. Content and Source: "The Hacker News." URL--https://thehackernews.com/ Please check URL or scroll down to read your selections. Thanks for joining us today. Russ Roberts (https://www.hawaiicybersecurityjournal.net). U.S. Government Entity Paid Kairos $1 Million in Data-Theft Extortion Case Jul 04, 2026 Cyber Extortion / Threat Intelligence A U.S. government entity paid about $1 million to keep stolen files from being leaked, according to a new case study by Rakesh Krishnan for Ransom-ISAC , built on a leaked negotiation chat and the blockchain trail the payment left. The odd part: the group that took the money calls itself Kairos , but it may not be a ransomware gang at all. Krishnan found no sign that it ever locked a single machine: no encrypt...