Police Sting Comes Down on Suspects Involved in Ransomware Attacks

A large-scale police operation involving experts and authorities from multiple countries culminated in a somewhat vague press release from Europol. The international law enforcement organization announced that it has "targeted" twelve different individuals, all of them involved in ransomware attacks against targets all over the world.

The report does not make it explicitly clear whether the individuals targeted by the authorities have already been arrested or are being prosecuted. According to Europol, the suspects have been involved in around 1800 attacks against victims located in over 70 countries around the globe.

The "actions", as Europol calls the operation, perhaps meaning a sting and an arrest, took place in the small hours this Tuesday, October 26, involving residents of Ukraine and Switzerland. The police also called those people "high-value targets" due to their suspected involvement in many high-profile criminal jobs executed in different territories.

The twelve people involved performed different tasks in the ransomware operations they are being accused of. Those tasks range from infiltration using phishing, brute force and code injection, to later laundering the cryptocurrency ransom payments to make them untraceable.

As part of the operation carried out by international authorities, a sum of over $50 thousand has been confiscated, as well as several expensive cars. Computer equipment has also been seized by the police and is currently being examined for further evidence.

The operation was made possible by the joint effort of Norwegian, French, Dutch, Ukrainian, British, German and Swiss authorities, as well as the US FBI and even the US Secret Service. The involvement of so many institutions and authorities implies the significance and scope of the sting.

Further details are not yet available, including the possible affiliation of the twelve individuals to any major ransomware gangs.