Miracle · July 22 2021

The Miracle of the Universal Key

The wonder

On 22 July 2021, three weeks after the Kaseya VSA attack, the company announced it had obtained from a "trusted third party" a universal decryptor that worked for all REvil victims. Emsisoft confirmed it worked, and recovery of the roughly 1,500 affected businesses began without paying the $70 million demanded. It was later reported that the FBI had obtained the key by accessing REvil's servers.

The miracle worker

Kaseya, which distributed the key to customers, Emsisoft, which verified it and helped put it to use, and, as later reported, the FBI, which had recovered it.

Thanksgiving

For a key that arrived when no one expected it any more, and for those who chose recovery over ransom, we give thanks. Amen.