Europol has announced the arrest in Ukraine of two men believed to be members of a notorious ransomware gang that extorted victims with ransom demands ranging from 5 to 70 million euros.
The international law enforcement operation was conducted in coordination with the FBI, the French police and the Ukrainian National Police. Authorities conducted seven property searches, seized $375,000 in cash and two luxury vehicles, which cost about $250,000. Furthermore, the authorities also froze $1.3 million worth of crypto that is believed to be ransom payments.
Coordinated statements by Europol and the Ukrainian police describe the suspects as members of a high-level group, but Europol refused to name the group for operational reasons.
Law enforcement agencies attribute almost a hundred cyberattacks to the gang, which has targeted North American and European organizations since April 2020. The gang’s tactics follow the typical network compromise, the use of malware, data exfiltration and, finally, the encryption of the victim’s local files.
The main compromise points were the victim’s VPN tool or emails to employees storing payloads on their computers.
The total damage to the affected organisations is estimated at 150 million dollars.
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