BERLIN (AP) — German police said Monday they have busted an international cybercrime group that has been blackmailing major companies and institutions for years and raking in millions of euros.
Working with partners such as Europol, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Ukrainian authorities, Düsseldorf police were able to identify 11 people associated with a group that has operated under different names at least since 2010.
Among its most prominent victims was the University Hospital of Düsseldorf, whose computers were infected with a class of ransomware known as DoppelPaymer in 2020. Ransomware is malicious software that locks down computers on a network and demands a ransom to free them. A woman who needed urgent treatment died after having to be transferred to another city for treatment.
Dirk Kunze, who heads the cybercrime department of the North Rhine-Westphalia state police, said at least 601 victims had been identified in different parts of the world, including 37 in Germany. Europol said victims in the United States paid at least 40 million euros ($42.5 million) to the gang between May 2019 and March 2021.
The group specialized in “big game hunting”, Kunze said, and had a professional recruiting network that lured new members with the promise of paid time off, asking applicants to submit cybercrime references. previous.
Police carried out simultaneous raids in Germany and Ukraine on December 28 in which evidence was seized and several suspects were arrested. Three other suspects, including two Russian citizens, could not be detained because they were beyond the reach of European security forces, Kunze said.