Cybersecurity

WHO HACKED THE NSA?

When the hackers released their cache, they were brazen and braggadocious. Through broken English, they boasted about besting the NSA, and proposed to auction off encrypted NSA data. But the “truly absurd ‘Dr. Evil’ sum” of a million Bitcoins ($576 million) and the fact that losing bidders would forfeit their money without receiving the decryption key indicate the Shadow Brokers don’t seriously expect anything to come from it.

That is, unless it’s an attempt to deflect attention by spurring a wild goose chase for a faux infamy-seeking collective. Much like the character in the game, the broker might be a single individual with access to a vast network, an NSA insider looking to cover his tracks.