A posting by the UK's NCA on the seized LockBit dark website boasts that it now has "a full understanding of the platform and how it operated, and all this detail is presently being worked through with our international Cronos colleagues to help us identify and pursue criminals all over the world. Meanwhile, Spanish law enforcement officers have seized nine servers used as part of the ransomware’s infrastructure, and arrested a man at Madrid airport believed to be the administrator of a "bulletproof" hosting service used by the gang to keep their systems online. One imagines that there are even more core members and affiliates of the LockBit gang who will be concerned to know that police now have access to even more of the cybercriminal operations' servers, and will be trawling through data contained upon them to identify other suspects. A suspected LockBit developer who made the mistake of holidaying outside of Russia was the first to be arrested, thanks to an extradition treaty the country had with France. "In the framework of an investigation by French Gendarmerie, an individual believed to be a major actor inside the LockBit network was arrested as he was on holiday outside of Russia. Meanwhile, in the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested two individuals - one suspected of being a LockBit affiliate, and the other facing money-laundering charges. 31-year-old Aleksandr Ryzhenkov, believed to reside in Russia, is wanted for his alleged involvement in a series of ransomware attacks and money laundering activities.
This Cyber News was published on www.tripwire.com. Publication date: Thu, 03 Oct 2024 13:13:05 +0000