FBI, others crush REvil using ransomware gang's favorite tactic against it

Source: Ars Technica



Well, apparently, whoever relaunched REvil wasn’t the brightest bulb. Last night, Reuters reported that several countries working together took down the ransomware gang using one of the criminal organization’s favorite tactics—compromised backups.

Though the FBI isn’t commenting on the matter, private-sector cybersecurity experts and a former US official confirmed the operation, Reuters reports. “The FBI, in conjunction with Cyber Command, the Secret Service, and like-minded countries, have truly engaged in significant disruptive actions against these groups,” Tom Kellermann, VMware’s head of cybersecurity strategy and an adviser to the US Secret Service on cybercrime investigations, told Reuters. “REvil was top of the list.”



The newfound success against the slippery gang stems in part from the new legal freedom to pursue such criminal operations. US Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco recently determined that ransomware attacks on critical infrastructure are a national security threat on par with terrorism. That allowed the Justice Department to bring in assistance from the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies.

“Before, you couldn’t hack into these forums, and the military didn’t want to have anything to do with it,” Kellermann said. “Since then, the gloves have come off.”



Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/10/fbi-others-crush-revil-using-ransomware-gangs-favorite-tactic-against-it/?comments=1&start=40

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So Biden has unleashed the hounds as it were. I'm not sure how I feel about offensive cyberoperations being carried out by the military / NSA against Russian civilians, but maybe this will have an effect.