In 2019, Maastricht University (Maastricht University) in the Netherlands was hit by ransomware, which locked data on 25.000 employees and students. The university agreed to pay ransom amounting to €200.000 to unlock the encrypted data, reports the German DW.
Apparently, after years, some of the ransom has been recovered, but with a very significant difference.
As part of the investigation into this particular attack, the Dutch Police were monitoring a bank account who laundered money in Ukraine. A small amount of the ransom was deposited into this account – around 40.000 euros in digital currencies.
Prosecutors were able to break into the account in 2020 and discovered several different cryptocurrencies. The authorities then managed to return the ransom to the University after two years. But the value of the bitcoins in the Ukrainian account had increased from the then value of €40.000 to €500.000.
So a university official stated that all the money will go to "a fund to help students financially".
