German prosecutors say a joint U.S.-European operation has seized infrastructure belonging to the BlackSuit ransomware gang, a infamous hacking group blamed for a number of main cyberattacks lately.
In a new statement this week, officers in Germany mentioned they’d seized the gang’s servers and methods as a part of an operation on July 24. The officers mentioned the operation had secured “appreciable quantities of knowledge” that might be used to assist determine the people chargeable for the assaults.
The officers mentioned they switched off the servers, successfully chopping off the ransomware malware. The assertion mentioned BlackSuit had a complete of 184 victims worldwide, of which a number of have been in Germany.
On the time of publication, the BlackSuit’s leak website on the darkish net, which it used to publish recordsdata and extort victims into paying a ransom, was now not loading. It now shows a seizure discover saying the location was taken down by a “coordinated worldwide regulation enforcement investigation.”
The operation went forward with assist from ICE’s Homeland Safety Investigations unit and Europol, in line with the German officers. Representatives for ICE didn’t return a request for remark.
U.S. authorities reportedly disclosed the seizure earlier within the week, per one report. It’s not instantly clear if any arrests have been made.
BlackSuit has been one of many more prolific ransomware operations lately, concentrating on U.S. cities like Dallas, in addition to organizations within the manufacturing, communications and healthcare industries.
In 2024, U.S. cybersecurity company CISA warned that the gang was rebranding from Royal to BlackSuit. It’s not unusual for ransomware gangs to spin off or merge with different teams to skirt government-imposed sanctions that make it tougher to revenue from cyberattacks.
Safety researchers have since found {that a} new ransomware gang dubbed Chaos is probably going made up of former members of the BlackSuit gang.