In 2019, the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands was hit by a ransomware attack that locked the research data of 25,000 staff and students. Because the backup system was also locked, the university finally agreed to pay a bitcoin ransom worth 200,000 euros to unlock the encrypted data. In a subsequent criminal investigation, Dutch police tracked down a Ukrainian money-laundering bank account containing about 40,000 euros worth of bitcoin. Prosecutors seized accounts in 2020 and found large amounts of cryptocurrency. The Dutch police returned the bitcoin ransom to the university two years later. Interestingly, Bitcoin that was worth 40,000 euros at the time is now worth 500,000 euros. Although not all the ransom was recovered, the value of the bitcoins returned has more than doubled compared to the ransom paid. Maastricht University officials said the money would be used to help financially-strapped students.
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