Europol seizes $1.3M in crypto from prolific ransomware operators
US and European enforcement agencies Europol and Interpol recently coordinated an arrest of two ransomware operators in Ukraine, leading them to seize $375,000 in cash, two luxury vehicles worth €217,000, and $1.3 million in cryptocurrencies.
The high-profile operation was coordinated between the French National Gendarmerie, the Ukrainian National Police, and the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with Europol and Interpol cybercrime teams.
Details such as the name of ransomware operators were not disclosed, but Europol revealed that the operators were known for their “extortionate ransom demands”, asking for anywhere between €5 million to €70 million ($5.8 million to $81.3 million).
The arrests were part of a larger clampdown on an organized cybercrime group that has conducted a series of ransomware attacks against more than 100 foreign companies in North America and Europe, according to Ukrainian police.
After the US suffered from ransomware attacks on the US Colonial Pipeline and JBS in May, the country called for international cooperation to establish a joint strategy targeting cybercriminals based in Eastern Europe and Russia.
The Biden administration has announced plans to convene officials from 30 countries to hold a “Cyber Security Month” as part of a large-scale effort to combat cyberattacks including ransomware.
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