Monero (XMR) is well known as an untraceable, privacy-oriented digital currency that provides the owner with complete control of the funds. There is nothing new about it for the ones who are in the cryptocurrency world. However, a huge Brazilian company discovered the great benefits os Monero the worse way.
Light, the company responsible for the energy supply of Rio de Janeiro, the famous State in Brazil, was attacked by hackers yesterday, June 16th. They used malware to cryptograph Windows files used by Light to run their systems, especially customers and billing services. The company didn't share much information about what happened but informed the hackers asked for 100.000 Moreno (XMR) to give back access to the files.
This is not the first time this year that big Brazilian companies are the target of hacker attacks.
Avon, one of the world's most important cosmetic's company, was affected by ransomware a couple of weeks ago. In an official note, the company stated the attack affected the production in some plants and the outcomes were being evaluated. Avon declared the hackers responsible for the attack asked for Bitcoin (BTC) to decrypt the files affected.
Hackers attacks haven't targeted only the private sector in Brazil. Earlier this year, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro (yes, Rio de Janeiro names both the city and the State where that city is located) was also affected by a ransomware attack that impacted the capability of input data in the public health system. The police reported this attack had targeted a wide variety of the municipality's administrative departments and it may have been executed by a random e-mail message with a corrupted link. At that time, the ransom was asked in Bitcoin (BTC).
This is bad for all of us, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, who believe crypto is a tool that gives power back to the people. Every time this kind of story goes to the news, we take a step back on the broader adoption of crypto. After all, it brings to the average people the old bad sensation that cryptocurrency is used only for hackers, to buy drugs and all other kinds of underground practices.
