In a joint law enforcement operation, international investigators dismantled the Lockbit hacker group. In the past, the gang had primarily stolen sensitive data from large companies and thus forced ransoms.
International investigators have managed a major blow against a global network of cybercriminals and blackmailers.
The Lockbit hacking group has been dismantled in a joint law enforcement operation by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Europol, according to a post on the gang’s former extortion website.
“This site is now under the control of the National Crime Agency, which works closely with the FBI and the international law enforcement unit ‘Operation Cronos,'” it said. An NCA spokesman confirmed the gang had been broken up.
Hackers attacked hundreds of companies
Lockbit and its partners have hacked some of the world’s largest companies in recent months. The gang makes money by stealing sensitive data and threatening to share it if victims don’t pay a ransom.
Their partners are like-minded criminal groups who are recruited by the group to carry out attacks using Lockbit’s digital extortion tools. According to the US cybersecurity agency CISA, Lockbit has attacked at least 1,700 US organizations since 2020.