The ICRC may hold a dialogue with the hackers who have taken over its database

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is ready to engage in dialogue with hackers who, as a result of a cyberattack on its database, took possession of confidential information. This was stated on January 20 by the director general of the humanitarian organization Robert Mardini in an interview with the Swiss television company RTS.

At the same time, he noted that the option of buying data from hackers is not considered, since the ICRC “never pays it.”

“We are ready to communicate directly and anonymously with those who did this, whoever they are, to inform them of the protected status of this information,” Mardini said.

When asked about the extent of the damage caused by the hacker attack to the organization, the director general replied that the ICRC is still analyzing the extent of the damage.

Mardini noted that the Red Cross suspended access to the database in order to “limit the impact of the attack.” The organization promised to do everything possible to continue to provide assistance to families separated from their loved ones.

On 19 January, the ICRC reported that it had been subjected to a massive cyberattack that could have stolen the confidential information contained in a database of more than half a million people. According to the organization, the attack may have compromised the personal data of people in extremely vulnerable situations, including those separated from their families due to conflict, migration and natural disasters, missing persons and their family members, as well as individuals in custody.

At the same time, it was noted that it is not yet known who is behind this week’s “sophisticated attack against computer servers containing ICRC information.”

Then Mardini urged the perpetrators of the cyberattack not to make public the data they could access, and not to sell it or use it in any other way.