International cooperation of security forces led to the detainement of four Russian citizens last week, who led one of the most active hacker blackmail groups in 2024. On Monday, the European Police Authority informed Europol, TASR writes according to AFP report.
The hacker group known as 8base “especially aggressively” used malicious software known as ransomware. Hackers encrypted victims data and subsequently demanded money to restore access to them, said Europol. “Coordinated international intervention of security forces last week led to the retention of four people who managed the 8base group using ransomware,” He said the office based in the Hague.
“These persons, all Russian nationality, are suspected of deploying the PHOBOS ransomvar variant to enforce high payments from victims in Europe and outside,” EUROPOL explained. At the same time, he noted that the 8base group was one of the most active last year.
14 countries have been involved in Europol’s operation, allowing police to warn more than 400 companies around the world of the threat of attack. According to the agency, 27 servers connected to the criminal network were shut down.
The authorities first recorded Phobos in December 2018. It is a frequently used ransomware that usually focuses on poorly protected small or medium -sized enterprises, has been specified by Europol.
