Locks and Security News: your weekly locks and security industry newsletter
8th January 2025 Issue no. 735

Your industry news - first

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LockBit disrupted by international law enforcement coalition - but what will those agents do with the victims' data?

Law enforcement agencies from 10 countries have disrupted infamous ransomware gang LockBit's operations by taking control of its data leak website.

Dr Ilia Kolochenko, CEO and Chief Architect at ImmuniWeb and Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity and Cyber Law at Capital Technology University, has commented:

“What is interesting is whether law enforcement agencies will pass the information about victims, data breaches and paid (or non-paid) ransoms to other national authorities to probe the victims of LockBit. For instance, the US OFAC has been reiterating that paying ransom may violate sanctions and now has a good opportunity to review all payments made to LockBit. Likewise, national DPAs in Europe may also wish to compare a list of data breaches reported by victims and the breaches for which a ransom was paid to LockBit. This may eventually lead to investigations against breached companies who silently paid a ransom to conceal a data breach, without reporting it anywhere as required by law.”

More on the story here: https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/nca-leads-international-investigation-targeting-worlds-most-harmful-ransomware-group

21st February 2024