Investigators of the National Police stopped the activities of the multinational hacker group “LockBit” in Ukraine
This criminal cyberorganization is considered the most authoritative in the world of ransomware and since 2019 has carried out more than three thousand cyberattacks on private sector infrastructure in the United States and Europe, with losses of billions of euros.
At the national level, the special operation took place with the participation of investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police, cyber specialists of the Security Service of Ukraine under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General, at the international level — under the coordination of Europol.
The hackers provided their virus software and infrastructure as a service to affiliates in Western European countries, who encrypted the victim's data, threatened them with information leaks and demanded a ransom. Having received the funds, they were distributed between the main team “LockBit” and affiliates, which received up to 75% of the criminal profits.
In Ukraine, the criminals were represented by a father and son, whose actions affected individuals, enterprises, government institutions and health institutions in France.
Investigators of the National Police conducted a number of searches of the hackers' residences in Ternopil, during which mobile phones and computer equipment that were used in illegal activities were seized.
As a result, more than 200 criminal-related cryptocurrency accounts were blocked and 34 servers were deleted in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, France, Switzerland, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. This made it possible to block the activities of the main hacking platform and other criminal critical infrastructure.
These investigative actions were carried out at the request of international legal assistance from the competent authorities of France within the framework of the international working group “Operation Cronos”, which involved the competent law enforcement authorities of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the United States, Switzerland, Finland, Poland and New Zealand.
National Police of Ukraine
