(TheConservativeTimes.org) – LockBit, a ransomware network, is now under full law enforcement control after a joint operation to take control was a success.
The National UK Crime Agency stated that they seized the website from LockBit as a result of an international operation. The website is shut down and law enforcement has put a message on the website reading, “This site is now under the control of the National Crime Agency of the UK, working in close cooperation with the FBI and the international law enforcement task force Operation Cronos.”
The joint operation was carried out by a group of international police agencies including the FBI, Europol, and NCA. The group has said they will repurpose the technology and use it to expose the operations of the criminal gang behind LockBit. According to Europol, two LockBit actors were arrested in Ukraine and Poland, with two more being charged in the U.S.
Authorities have taken control of LockBit’s front-facing website, and have taken over the infrastructure behind their biggest technologies.
According to Graeme Biggar, the NCA’s Director General, “Through our close collaboration, we have hacked the hackers; taken control of their infrastructure, seized their source code, and obtained keys that will help victims decrypt their systems.”
Ransomware works by encrypting data on a machine and then demanding the victim’s payment for a decryption key to get rid of any copies of the info as well. However, the NCA noticed that some of the information was from victims who did pay the ransom money but they still held onto their information.
“The NCA’s world-leading expertise has delivered a major blow to the people behind the most prolific ransomware strain in the world,” said James Cleverly, the home secretary. He continued, “The criminals running LockBit are sophisticated and highly organized, but they have not been able to escape the arms of UK law enforcement and our international partners.”
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