Cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) and law enforcement agencies of the USA, Great Britain, the European Union and other partner countries conducted a large-scale special operation in various parts of the world to bring LockBit hackers to justice.
SSU conducted a cyber operation to expose the LockBit hacker group
Criminals stole confidential information and personal data from well-known companies and then demanded a "ransom" for them.
The SSU press service reported this on Facebook.
As a result of joint actions, members of a powerful international group of hackers named LockBit .
Among the organisers and participants of the group were citizens of Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
For almost five years, criminals have carried out more than 3,000 cyberattacks against financial institutions and corporations of Western countries that provide defence assistance to Ukraine.
It is documented that hackers demanded more than 90 million US dollars from only one of the American companies.
Hackers use specially designed ransomware to steal corporate information.
According to the investigation, group members remotely "launched" malicious software on users' computers. After that, the "virus" collected closed information, blocked the operation of computer equipment and "offered" to restore it after paying money.
In case of refusal, the attackers threatened not only to paralyze the entire technological process of the affected companies, but also to "spill" their confidential information into the open network.
As a result of a multi-stage special operation of the SSU and Western partners, law enforcement officers blocked the hacker group's darknet sites.
In addition, more than 30 servers were seized in the USA and seven countries of the European Union, from which criminals carried out cyber attacks and where stolen data was stored.
Also, more than 200 cryptocurrency accounts belonging to criminal groups were blocked.
Mobile phones and computers with evidence of illegal activity were discovered during investigative actions in Ukraine. The physical evidence received will be provided to international partners to continue the investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The cyber operation was conducted jointly with the National Police, Europol and the Prosecutor General's Office.
Russian hackers LockBit found themselves under US sanctions
Russian cybercriminals have come under US sanctions.
The US Treasury announced this on February 20.
It is noted that the two Russians are representatives of the LockBit ransomware developer group from the Russian Federation.
This is the first action in an ongoing joint effort by the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and our international partners to target LockBit.
The DOJ said the US will not tolerate attempts to extort and steal from its citizens and institutions.
Washington will continue its statewide approach to protecting against malicious cyber activity and will use all available tools to prosecute the actors who pose these threats.
