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According to the New York Times a Russia-based ransomware gang known as RansomHub via a post on the dark web claimed responsibility for a cyberattack targeting Christie’s auction house.

The group claimed credit for the attack on Monday.  It occurred earlier this month, on the prestigious auction house’s website. And was timed to disrupt the annual high-profile spring sales event, which featured over $850 million worth of art.

Christie's has locations in New York and London.

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RansomHub Attacks

The cyberattack forced Christie’s to suspend online bidding, compelling clients to place bids by phone or in person.

 Initially described by Christie’s as a "technology security issue," the event has now been attributed to RansomHub.  

The hacker group stated that it had accessed sensitive information about wealthy art collectors worldwide and threatened to release this data at the end of May if a substantial ransom is not paid.

The New York Times reported that while it could not immediately verify RansomHub's claims, cybersecurity experts confirmed the existence of the group and considered their claim about the Christie’s attack to be plausible. 

A Christie’s spokesperson commented on the breach, saying, "Our investigations determined there was unauthorized access by a third party to parts of Christie’s network. We also determined that the group behind the incident took a limited amount of personal data relating to some of our clients. There is no evidence that any financial or transactional records were compromised."

RansomHub’s dark web message claimed that attempts to negotiate with Christie’s broke down when the auction house ceased communication. The group warned that publishing the stolen data could result in Christie’s facing hefty fines under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which is part of European privacy and human rights law.

Ransomware Extortion

Ransomware attacks have become increasingly frequent, with cybercriminals extorting vast sums of money each year. 

The FBI advises against paying ransoms, stating that it does not guarantee data protection and only incentivizes further attacks.

In a related incident, the CEO of Change Healthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, admitted to paying a $22 million ransom to hackers earlier this month to protect patient data. 

RansomHub claimed responsibility for the February cyberattack on Change Healthcare, in which it allegedly stole four terabytes of data. Before the ransom was paid, the extortion group published a portion of the private and sensitive patient records of millions of Americans.