Graff Diamonds sues insurer over $7.5M Bitcoin ransom

Following a ransomware attack in September 2021, Graff Diamonds Corp., a well-known British jeweler, has sued The Travelers Companies Inc. for $7.5 million, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The billion-dollar jewelry firm claimed that the extortion loss should be compensated by the insurance coverage, according to the article. On the other hand, Graff claimed Travelers had refused to provide indemnification..

‘We are exceedingly dissatisfied and angered by Travelers’ effort to evade payment of this insured risk. Company spokesperson: “They have left us with no choice but to take these recovery procedures to the High Court.”

David Beckham, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Alec Baldwin, Sir Philip, Donald Trump, and other A-list celebrities are among the store’s celebrity clients, as are Middle Eastern royalty and members of the Trump family.

Ransomware group “Conti” used the company as a stepping stone to steal customer data earlier this year.

If the ransom is not paid, the hackers would expose a portion of stolen information pertaining to purchases made by celebrities such as David Beckham, Oprah, and Donald Trump as evidence that the files were hacked.

According to the gang’s assertions, the publicized material was barely 1% of the stolen information.

As a last resort, Graff Diamonds made a payment request and offered to pay half of their original demand in bitcoin. The Conti group received 118 BTC worth $7.5 million in payments delivered to a Bitcoin wallet on November 3, 2021.

“Criminals threatened to publish specific private purchases of our consumers. After months of negotiations, we were able to agree on a payment that completely removed the danger to Graff’s interests.

The payment of a ransom in BTC is not new, though. CWT, an American-based travel firm situated in the United States, spent $4.5 million in Bitcoin to recover access to its critical information after a security breach in 2020, according to Coinfomania.

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