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Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline
- mrtweetyhack 5y agoThat's dumb. Take it over and go fishing instead.
- unnouinceput 5y agoAny real, as in flesh and blood, person(s) arrested? Otherwise this is only a small delay.
- sofixa 5y agoThe US probably doesn't have jurisdiction over anyone involved, so no.
- FastEatSlow 5y agoSeems as if they're willing to fight dirty over the internet, but not to do anything physically.
- ComodoHacker 5y agoWhat did you expect, invading Russia?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- pgeorgi 5y agoInterpol notice - at least that'll restrict their movements
- jollybean 5y agoThe US, if they really wanted to, could make it problematic enough for Russia that they might want to engage on this. Russian doesn't gain anything from having it's citizens attack US hospitals.
- drzaiusapelord 5y agoSanctions and a million other things. Its not "let them commit crime against us" or nuclear war. There's middle ground of course.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 5y agoRealistic option: Sanctions. Extreme option: Follow the precedent Russia has set, synthesize some Novichok, and have someone pay them a visit.
- siva7 5y agoIf you are gonna be in a ransomware gang, be sure your operations do not occour in a country which has jurisdiction over you. So i would say no.
- AccountToUse 5y agoI don't agree with this. It's about incentives. If you make it too painful to conduct this type of crime, perpetrators will give up.
- jollybean 5y agoThe prospective of spending 30 years in jail is a disincentive.
- littlestymaar 5y agoIndeed, but it's not the only one.
- dylan604 5y agoThis is only a disincentive to people who normally don't commit crimes. If you're part of a crime ring, this ins't something you are concerned with on a daily basis.
- jollybean 5y agoOrganized criminals are aware of what brings the heat, what does not, and what crimes add up to what time. Their lawyers help them with that. For the same reason they don't go after local business in Russia, because of the 'cost'.
- snapetom 5y agoExactly. Until people are arrested, the government just basically shutdown a REvil billboard. They'll just pop up with a new one. No one has actually stopped REvil hacking operations. There's been a lot of drama with their affiliate programs that are probably not government related. This Reuters article is giving the government a tiny little more credit than it deserves. Here is an article with some more information: https://www.zdnet.com/article/revil-ransomware-operators-claim-group-is-ending-activity-again-happy-blog-now-offline/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/revil-ransomware-operators-cla...
- beermonster 5y agoYup. No arrests. Just a little holiday for the elusive operators: "The server was compromised, and they were looking for me," 0_neday wrote on a cybercrime forum last weekend and first spotted by security firm Recorded Future. "Good luck, everyone; I'm off." [1] [1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-governments-turn-tables-ransomware-gang-revil-by-pushing-it-offline-2021-10-21/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-governments-tur...
- jve 5y agoYes. Watch a stream from arrest: https://therecord.media/two-members-of-a-ransomware-gang-were-arrested-in-ukraine-following-a-joint-international-law-enforcement-operation/ https://therecord.media/two-members-of-a-ransomware-gang-wer... They had the opportunity to search within unlocked computer and devices. Found money.
- UweSchmidt 5y agoNot what I expected, a gaming PC and some MacBooks in a clean appartment and a live-in girlfriend. I would have expected a sweet homelab with lots nd lots of hardware to try the ransomware on, in a more "bachelor" environment.
- rich_sasha 5y agoI hope this is a sign of things to come. Train robberies and privateering were common because the culprits were rarely caught. I feel ransomware has been so successful because it operated in an environment where you never get caught. The solution is always the same, step up the enforcement.
- Moosdijk 5y agoWhen a lot of culprits are state actors, stepping up enforcement is a naive and useless endeavour
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- rich_sasha 5y agoI don’t think so. Hack the hackers. In a war if someone is shooting at you, you shoot back. Until you do, they keep shooting. I’m not saying it’s easy, just that this is the thing to do when you’re attacked.
- bruiseralmighty 5y agoGood point, but in a war, the goal is to disarm your enemies in order to pacify them. I'm not sure how you disarm a hacker in this century. State sponsored or not, everyone will have access to a computer.
- Moosdijk 5y agoLook up the lazarus group, state hackers from North Korea. The way you seem to be thinking about war doesn't apply at all to the current situation.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y agoActually, it's called "war", and it tends to be fairly effective (for one side, at least). Unfortunately it comes with a lot undesirable side effects.
- rasz 5y agoTLDR: "We failed to arrest, or even identify anybody, Team US OPSEC FUCK YEAH!!!" FBI, Cyber Command, Secret Service, Russian run Group-IB, DoD and spokesperson for the White House National Security Council seen in the background doing high fives and congratulating themselves on "Mission Accomplished".
- afrodc_ 5y agoDid they fail to arrest anyone? Or are you just making up stuff to be snarky?
- beermonster 5y agoWell Unknown is missing and their keys were recently used [1] so maybe they've been arrested or flipped? I think some were arrested in Ukraine too [2]. The US won't have as much success extraditing people operating out of Russia however. [1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-governments-turn-tables-ransomware-gang-revil-by-pushing-it-offline-2021-10-21/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-governments-tur... [2] https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2021/Ransomware-gang-arrested-in-Ukraine https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2021/Ransom...
- aaron695 5y agoYep, REvils website is down :( dnpscnbaix6nkwvystl3yxglz7nteicqrou3t75tpcc5532cztc46qyd.onion "nginx error!" [ Powered by nginx ] [ Powered by Fedora ] There's a lot of evidence REvils was sent from the future to stop a coming cyber-war that wipes out much of humanity due to systematic unpatched issues across the world that multiple nation states collected and used at once wiping out supply chains killing billions. It all fits, imagine if REvil's "Colonial Pipeline that led to widespread gas shortages" was in the hands of North Koreans or from a solar storm. Which does beg the question who really is currently attacking REvil. It stands to reason future nation states also might send people back in time to keep things unpatched and they would already know Biden has Alzheimers.
- sydbarrett74 5y agoThe solutions are multi-pronged. 1) Step up enforcement of current laws and regulations. (A law or regulation is only as effective as its enforcement.) 2) Do as much as possible to trace payments and force payment networks to co-operate with criminal investigations, preferably through multilateral treaties or agreements. 3) Thwart social engineering by training and promoting good online hygiene.
- AtNightWeCode 5y agoYAY! Some thoughts about the article. In my country and many others it is for sure already illegal to pay ransom. Would say it applies to the entire EU at least. Every company that paid should be prosecuted. I work for a company that payed ransom. Yes, it was illegal, and yes, the company is owned by "dudes"...
- vector1337 5y agoIs hacking the hackers even legal? Wouldn't it still be a crime.
- 28194608 5y agobut killing killers is legal under law.
- beermonster 5y agoAnd also US mulling military response to ransomware attacks [1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/06/us-military-response-ransomware-attacks-biden-russia-putin https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/06/us-milita...