From ZDNet. October 29:
Twelve high-value individuals suspected of spreading LockerGoga, MegaCortex, Dharma and other ransomware across 71 countries have been targeted in Ukraine and Switzerland.
Twelve people have been targeted by an international law enforcement operation for involvement in over 1,800 ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure and large organisations around the world.
A statement by Europol describes the 12 suspects in Ukraine and Switzerland as "high-value targets" responsible for "wreaking havoc across the world" by distributing LockerGoga, MegaCortex, Dharma and other ransomware attacks against organisations in 71 countries.
But it's unclear if the individuals have been arrested or charged – a Europol spokesperson told ZDNet that "the judicial process is ongoing".....
....MUCH MORE
It is always about raising their cost of doing business.
From The Economist August 24:
From pirates to ransomware: the secret economics of extortion
In 74BC a band of pirates made a terrible mistake when they captured a ship off the coast of Asia Minor, now Turkey. They kidnapped one of the passengers, a young Roman citizen named Julius Caesar, along with his entourage, and demanded a ransom of 20 talents (about 650kg in silver) for his release. Caesar, in his mid-20s and on his way to study rhetoric in Rhodes, burst out laughing. Didn’t they know who he was? He was worth 50 talents, not a mere 20! Unsurprisingly the pirates agreed to this higher ransom, and released some of Caesar’s associates to raise the money. Pirates were the scourge of the Mediterranean, bribing their way around efforts to suppress them. But despite their fearsome reputation, Caesar refused to be intimidated. He told them to be quiet when he wanted to sleep, “as if the men were not his watchers, but his royal bodyguard”, writes Plutarch. He joined in their games and regaled them with speeches and poetry, mocking them as illiterate barbarians. Once he was free, he said, he would execute the lot of them. According to Plutarch, “the pirates were delighted at this, and attributed his boldness of speech to a certain simplicity and boyish mirth.”
When Caesar’s friends arrived with the ransom the pirates released him. He went straight to Miletus, a city on the coast of Asia Minor, raised a fleet and returned to the pirates’ camp. After helping himself to their treasure, he captured most of the pirates, took them to the city of Pergamon and asked the local governor to execute them. When the governor wavered, Caesar had the pirates crucified, even though he lacked permission to do so.
Like all entrepreneurs, criminals must constantly reassess the relationship between risk and reward
Later in his career Caesar used this story to illustrate the need to be tough on pirates, rather than turn a blind eye or demand a cut of their profits. But the anecdote has another lesson, one that is still relevant 21 centuries on. Like all entrepreneurs, successful criminals must constantly reassess the relationship between risk and reward.
Caesar’s captors had a poor grasp of the economics of extortion. Their hostage was more valuable than they bargained for: though young, Caesar was already a distinguished soldier, lawyer and orator. His aunt had been married to Gaius Marius, a famous general and seven times consul of Rome. His father had been governor of Asia Minor (which may explain why the people of Miletus were so willing to help). The pirates underestimated the risk they were taking by kidnapping him – with fatal consequences.
Medieval knights wore coats of arms on shields and armour which, in showing what illustrious family they came from, indicated their value as a hostage. This labelling system made them less likely to be killed in battle: they were worth more if captured alive.
King Richard I of England was kidnapped in 1192 on his way home from the crusades. Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, demanded 45 tonnes of silver (the origin of the phrase “a king’s ransom”). Henry played his hand well: he made Richard swear an oath of allegiance to him, ignored the pope’s objections that he had imprisoned a crusader, then used the ransom to fund an invasion of Sicily. He correctly judged both risk and reward.....***** ....Kidnapping data is less risky than kidnapping people and the rewards can be large. Barriers to entry are low, with criminals needing little technical expertise. “Initial access brokers” break into networks and sell their backdoor pass on the dark web, where you can also buy ransomware software. You can even outsource the business of negotiating a ransom. Probing companies’ networks for vulnerabilities is quick and easy and there are millions of potential victims.
There are few overheads: cyber-criminals were pioneers of WFH and can operate from anywhere in the world....
