The UK’s National Crime Agency, in a joint effort with the FBI and other global law enforcement agencies, has launched a successful operation against Lockbit, a hacking group with Russian connections, known for its attack on Royal Mail last year.
On Monday, the agency announced that it had seized control of Lockbit’s operations, significantly undermining their criminal network.
Lockbit, which has been operating for four years, gained notoriety as “the world’s most destructive cybercrime group.” It used its ransomware to extort billions in pounds, dollars, and euros from various victims, including high-profile targets like Royal Mail, Boeing, Rex Group, a fire alarm manufacturer, and the Food and Drink Federation.
Graeme Biggar, the director general of the National Crime Agency, stated: “This NCA-led investigation marks a pivotal disruption of the world’s most damaging cybercrime group. It demonstrates that no criminal entity, regardless of their location or the sophistication of their operations, is out of reach for the Agency and our international partners.”
Graeme Biggar, the Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA), revealed that a coalition of international law enforcement from 10 countries successfully “hacked the hackers,” leading to the shutdown of a major ransomware site.
During a press conference in Westminster, Biggar highlighted that Lockbit, the most active ransomware group over the past four years, was responsible for a quarter of all ransomware attacks in the previous year.
The US has charged five Russian individuals, with two currently detained: Mikhail Vasiliev, awaiting extradition in Canada, and Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov, in US custody. The other three, Artur Sungatov, Ivan Kondratyev, and Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, remain at large.
Arrests have also been made in Poland and Ukraine, and over 200 cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group have been seized.
A recent update on the group’s website announced: “This site is now under the control of the UK’s National Crime Agency, in collaboration with the FBI and the international law enforcement initiative, ‘Operation Cronos’.”
Message displayed on Lockbit’s site – Source: National Crime Agency
