Dark Overlord may prove to be the insurance industry’s biggest threat

Cyber threats pose a nearly immeasurable risk to an industry based on stored private information.

Dark Overlord is the name of an individual or group behind what may be a massive cyberattack on insurance companies. Dark Overlord claims to have stolen files connected with the insurance filings made as a result of the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.

If this is the case, Dark Overlord may have achieved the largest ever hack into the insurance industry.

According to a Forbes report, Dark Overlord is seeking Bitcoin payments in exchange for the data’s return.

The stolen 9/11 insurance claim data was allegedly stolen from an insurance company that remained unnamed but that worked in conjunction with major insurers including Lloyd’s of London and Hiscox.

At first, the hacker(s) stated their intention for using the data to reignite fears regarding 9/11 conspiracy theories. However, the Forbes report said Dark Overlord informed the newspaper that “We’re doing this to fuel our Bitcoin wallets.” The hacker has been behind several attempts at extortion, including a 2017 hack of one of the studios working for Netflix. It has also conducted cyberattacks against a range of other businesses in the months after that attack.

Dark Overlord released a few of the stolen documents as a teaser shortly after their announcement.

The original announcement of the hack was made on New Year’s Eve in 2018. The teaser was released shortly afterward.

The hacker claimed to have obtained 18,000 documents in a post on Pastebin. Many of the documents stolen were related to 9/11 insurance claims and litigation. Last week, the hacker posted on Pastebin and Twitter (which has since suspended the account) saying the leaks would be crowdfunded. They stated that once their financial goals were reached a growing number of files would be released. It would start at $250 worth of Bitcoin and continue to $2 million in Bitcoin.

The documents Dark Overlord leaked so far have all seemed mainly harmless. That said, more complex data was promised moving forward. This type of potential hack is highly threatening to the insurance industry, considering the vast amounts of sensitive information insurers collect and store.