According to Shadow Brokers, spy tools were made by Equation Group, which many experts consider to be part of the NSA. To arouse interest in the auction, the hacker grouping claimed that these cyber-weapons may break into firewall software designed by companies such as Cisco Systems Inc and Fortinet Inc.
In addition, Shadow Brokers announced that the weapons will be “better than Stuxnet,” a malicious computer worm which caused serious damage to Iran’s nuclear program, Reuters reported.
Experts believe that these weapons are too old and cannot cause any major damage.
“The data [released so far] appears to be relatively old; some of the programs have already been known for years,” researcher Claudio Guarnieri told Reuters. “[These programs are unlikely] to cause any significant operational damage.”
The auction’s ending time is unknown. Shadow Brokers encouraged bidders to “keep bidding” via Bitcoin currency until they announce the winner.
Means directed to hackers will not be returned, even if the winner is someone else.
