The American company Ubiquiti Networks this week sued journalist Brian Krebs, specializing in cybersecurity, and demanded $ 425 thousand compensation from him for accusing the company of concealing a cyberattack.
According to the lawsuit, Krebs deliberately misled his readers about the data leak and the subsequent blackmail attempt.
According to the company, it notified its customers about the cyberattack and instructed them about the necessary additional precautions to ensure greater security of their data. In addition, Ubiquiti reported the incident to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but Krebs deliberately ignored all the actions it took to increase advertising revenue, thus attracting traffic to its KrebsOnSecurity website.
According to the lawsuit, the only source Krebs relied on was Ubiquiti employee Nicholas Sharp, who is responsible for the cyberattack.
On December 1, 2021, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Southern District of New York accused Sharp of stealing confidential data from Ubiquiti under the guise of an anonymous hacker and extorting money from the company.
According to Ubiquiti representatives, Krebs allegedly read the press release and knew that his main source was accused of involvement in the cyberattack. However, he published an article on his website the next day, re-accusing Ubiquiti and making readers think that his earlier message about the attack was not based on data received from Sharpe.