Europol: Cybercrime gang in Ukraine smashed
The Hague dpa - According to Europol, international investigators have broken up a globally operating cybercrime gang in Ukraine. The gang had attacked the servers of large companies or organizations in more than 70 countries and caused hundreds of millions of euros in damage, Europol announced in The Hague on Tuesday.
In Ukraine, around 30 buildings were searched on Tuesday despite the ongoing war. According to Europol, the suspected 32-year-old gang leader and his four main accomplices were arrested. They are said to belong to a network that is responsible for large-scale ransomware attacks.
According to Europol, the gang injected malicious software into the servers, which they used to block data and systems. Data and systems were only released again after high ransom sums were paid.
Investigators found that more than 250 servers belonging to large corporations or organizations had been attacked. According to the Stuttgart public prosecutor's office and the Reutlingen police headquarters, this also included companies in the Friedrichshafen area and the Esslingen district. Europol and the judicial authority Eurojust in The Hague were involved in the operation, as well as investigators from seven countries, including Germany and Switzerland.
The investigations were reportedly launched in 2019 on the initiative of France. The first arrests and searches were then carried out in 2021.
The cybercrime gang, responsible for ransomware attacks that caused significant financial damage to over 70 countries, was discovered to use computers to inject malicious software and demand ransom payments. The leader of this operation, along with four main accomplices, was caught using a computer during their arrest in Ukraine.
Source: www.dpa.com
