Intelligence agencies from 11 countries, including the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), the FBI and Interpol Europe, conducted Operation Cronos, blocking the network of the hacker group LockBit.
It is reported that as a result of the actions of an international group of law enforcement officers, it was possible to hack the infrastructure of the hackers behind the distribution of crypto-asset ransomware.
“Law enforcement agencies took control of the LockBit platform and obtained all the information stored on it. This information concerns the LockBit group and its partners. We have access to the source code, details of victims targeted, ransom amounts requested, stolen data, chats and much, much more,” the NCA said in a statement.
As a result of operational activities, it was possible to detain members of the LockBit hacker community involved in hacking, and identify more than 14,000 administrator accounts intended to steal confidential information and negotiate with victims. Internet resources stopped working and came under the full control of law enforcement agencies.
The day before, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury announced that it had de-anonymized several crypto-wallets of the LockBit hacker group and imposed sanctions against individuals associated with them.