According to a report by Spiegel.de, Europol is said to have recently announced that it had caught the backers of a large ransomware group. The twelve suspects are said to have blackmailed thousands of victims in 71 countries, including the aluminum company Norsk Hydro.
Already a few days ago Europol's investigators dealt a heavy blow to a global ransomware groupas Europol and the European judicial authority Eurojust announced on Friday in The Hague. In doing so, the 12 most important key figures have been identified. The group and its leaders are said to be responsible for particularly serious cyber attacks on large companies and important infrastructures (KRITIS). The European investigative authorities assume that there are more than 1800 victims in 71 countries. One of the most famous victims is the aluminum group Norsk Hydro from Norway, which was attacked in March 2019.
Forensic investigation started
According to Spiegel.de, the investigators are said to have accessed the Ukraine and Switzerland on Tuesday. When the suspects' homes were searched, 52.000 euros in cash and five luxury cars were seized. The electronic devices seized during the action, such as PCs, notebooks and servers, are currently being forensically examined in order to secure evidence and identify new traces.
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