Graff Diamonds is a name that crops up amongst the most premium jewelry brands in the world. Everything is ultra-expensive on the table- cyber-attack included. The luxury jewelry brand that doesn’t sell a single bauble for less than a million landed on the other side of the counter and paid a $7.5 million ransom in Bitcoin to a Russian hacking gang. Yes, it was precious information, not precious gems, as the team leaked data on the jeweler’s high-profile clients, according to a London lawsuit. No less than 69,000 confidential documents were leaked, including client lists, invoices, receipts, and credit notes. Needless to say, Graff’s client list is as dazzling as its jewels, including Middle East royalty, the most prominent billionaires, Hollywood A-listers, and globally renowned celebrities. Graff diamonds paid 188 Bitcoin to the hackers, Conti.
The price of Bitcoin has dropped massively since then; the ransom is worth $2.3 million today, and Graff insurers, Travelers Companies Inc, are refusing to pay the losses. Graff is taking the insurers to the High Court in London to recover the losses. A spokesperson for Graff told Bloomberg: ‘The criminals threatened targeted publication of our customer’s private purchases. We were determined to take all possible steps to protect their interests and so negotiated a payment that successfully neutralized that threat. We are extremely frustrated and disappointed by Travelers’ attempt to avoid settlement of this insured risk. They have left us with no option but to bring these recovery proceedings at the High Court.’
Interestingly, Conti leaked data about the Saudi, UAE, and Qatar royal families. What followed next surprised everyone as the hacking group apologized to the royals and at the same time threatened to leak more of Graff’s data. “Our goal is to publish as much of Graff’s information as possible regarding the financial declarations made by the US-UK-EU neo-liberal plutocracy, which engages in obnoxiously expensive purchases when their nations are crumbling under economic duress,” the group said, according to reports at the time.
