An alleged hacker who was trying to sell audio clips recorded purportedly at Pakistan Prime Minister House has become ‘inactive’ now, according to an online monitoring group.
The development comes amid claims that the alleged hacker was going to release the entire 8GB of data containing over a hundred conversations on Friday, September 30, 2022.
The alleged hacker claimed to be in possession of the data in August this year in a hackers’ forum and released at least three clips in September. The conversations went viral over the weekend in Pakistan after the mainstream media picked them from social media.
The hacker was asking for 180 BT (bitcoins) for the data. This amount translates into US$345,000 or over Rs81.1 million.
However, the hackers’ forum he was using as a marketplace suspended his account and closed the thread on September 27. The hacker also became inactive after that point.
Open Source Intelligence, which tracks online activities of militants and others, said that people who were expecting more clips were “most likely not getting any new audio leaks.”
“Audio leak thread on hacking forum has been ‘closed’. The hacker who posted audio leaks has also been inactive for more than 24 hour now,” the OSINT Insider said Tuesday evening according to Pakistan time.
“You’re most likely not getting any new audio leaks. Party is over. Go back to your jobs now,” it added.
The forum thread was closed after the alleged hacker failed to provide five clips according to the forum rules to prove that he was in possession of the data.
“It either means that some interested party got the leaks or the purpose was served with only those leaks,” the OSINT Insider said.
As soon as the hacker, who identified themselves as “Indishell” became inactive and the forum thread was closed, a new Twitter account was opened under the same pseudonym.
This Indishell claimed that they would release all the clips on Friday, September 30.
However, Osint said that they were an impersonator and fake.
The impersonator also created a profile on the hackers’ forum shortly before the thread there was closed and said, “For undisclosed reasons, I will be releasing ALL files this Friday (09/30).”
“No more negotiations and offers will be accepted. The entire zip of audio will be released at the end of the current week,” it said.
“Hopefully this release will bring betterment to Pakistan,” this new profile said.
However, moderators at the forum quickly identified it to be an impersonator.
The announcement of the massive release on Friday came from fake profiles and the “original hacker” was still inactive as of Wednesday morning for over 36 hours.
