Europol Ransomware Attack: Company Seizes Over $52,000, 5 Luxury Vehicles From 12 Suspects Who Launched Global Attack

Europol, or the European Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, has detained 12 persons linked to the previous ransomware attacks. According to the report, the suspects have committed an all-out cyberattack globally.

Ransomware Attackers Inflict Damage in 71 Countries

According to a report by Gizmodo on Monday, Nov.1, the involved hackers have impacted several businesses across the world. There were over 1,800 victims that were affected, which came from 71 countries.

Furthermore, the agency said that the arrested individuals were the responsible attackers behind the 2019 Norsk Hydro ransomware attack. A few years ago, the hackers managed to halt the operations of the two plants located on two continents.

For almost a week, the activities inside the company have been stopped. To add, it also cost them over $50 million loss in the process.

Recently, Europol was able to put an end to the hacker's plans to infect more systems in many nations. The anti-crime organization has obtained more than $52,000 cash from hackers. It also retrieved five luxury vehicles from them.

Now, Europol is launching a follow-up analysis for the electronic devices that were stolen. The forensic investigation would pave the way for more "leads" and evidence in the case.

Besides Europol, the Eurojust also cooperated with the law agency to hasten the investigation. Various authorities helped the organization. The majority of them came from the US and the UK.

As per Europol's press release a few days ago, the operation occurred in Switzerland and Ukraine.

Schreiber Foods Hit by Ransomware Scheme

Before Halloween, another food industry company besides Ferrare has suffered from an unsuspected system disruption. Schreiber Foods, a Wisconsin-based food distributor, said that cybercriminals invaded them last weekend.

According to the firm's director of communications, Andrew Tobisch, the "cyber event" affected the company's systems on Friday, Oct.29.

"That meant our plants and distribution centers couldn't use those systems, which they needed to run. It impacted all of our locations, but fortunately, we have a specialized response team that immediately jumped into action and began working to resolve the matter," Tobisch said in an interview with ZDNet.

Police Raid Dark Web Illegal Marketplace

Last week, Tech Times reported that Europol has successfully shut down the large marketplace, which allows over 320,000 transactions. At the time of writing, the said illegal market also had 500,000 users.

The DarkMarket operation led to the arrest of 150 drug vendors and buyers. Europol clarified that it had launched separate investigations in different countries including, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Bulgaria, and Switzerland.

The police had retrieved nearly $31.6 million of cash and digital currencies, in addition to 234 kilograms of drugs and 45 illegal weapons. Previously, the authorities have released the official list of illegal marketplaces to avoid.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry