German police have exposed an international gang of cybercriminals who have been blackmailing large companies and institutions for years, robbing millions of euros. AR writes about it.
Working with law enforcement partners including Europol, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and authorities in Ukraine, Dusseldorf police said they were able to identify 11 people linked to the group, which has been active since at least 2010.
Among the most notable victims was the Düsseldorf University Hospital, whose computers were infected with a ransomware known as DoppelPaymer in 2020. A woman who needed urgent treatment died after having to be flown to another city for treatment.
Dirk Kunze, who heads the cybercrime unit of the state police in Rhine-Westphalia, said that at least 601 victims have been identified worldwide, including 37 in Germany. Europol said victims in the United States paid the gang at least 40 million euros between May 2019 and March 2021.
According to Koonze, the group specialized in "big game hunting" and ran a professional recruitment operation, luring new members with the promise of paid vacations and asking applicants to provide references about past cybercrimes.
Kuntze said that on February 28, the police conducted simultaneous raids in Germany and Ukraine, seizing evidence and detaining several suspects. According to Kuntse, three more suspects, two of whom are Russian citizens, cannot be detained because they are beyond the reach of European law enforcement agencies.