ShinyHunters Goes After Cybersecurity Firm Warning Victims Not to Pay Ransoms
A cybersecurity firm has reported that the hacking group ShinyHunters is attempting to silence them after they advised the public against paying ransoms. The group recently gained notoriety for hacking Canvas, claiming to have stolen data from millions of students. The firm warns that paying the ransom may only encourage further attacks and manipulation from the hackers.
- ▪ShinyHunters has been flooding the cybersecurity firm Unit 221B with emails to disrupt communication.
- ▪Canvas, an online educational system, was hacked by ShinyHunters, who claimed to have stolen data from nearly 9,000 institutions.
- ▪Unit 221B's chief research officer, Allison Nixon, cautioned victims against paying ransoms, stating that the group's threats are not rational.
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| Original publisher | PCMag |
| Canonical URL | https://www.pcmag.com/news/shinyhunters-goes-after-cybersecurity-firm-warning-victims-not-to-pay-ransoms |
| Publication time | Tue, 19 May 26 14:42:10 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-19T14:59:57.677Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-19T14:59:57.677Z |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
A cybersecurity company says the hacking gang ShinyHunters has tried to censor and cut off its communications after it urged the public to refuse to pay the group's ransom demands. “They want you to forget past behavior that caused victims to stop taking them seriously,” warned Allison Nixon, chief research officer for cybersecurity vendor Unit 221B. “They are also flooding our email to make it more difficult for journalists to reach us.” Nixon posted the message on LinkedIn after ShinyHunters reached a new level of infamy earlier this month for hacking Canvas, an online educational system used by thousands of universities and schools in the US.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCMag.