Russian Hacker Group Dismantled at US Request

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The Russian security service FSB has dismantled a criminal hacker group. According to the Russian authorities, the racketeers with ransomware of the REvil gang have been completely eliminated in a special operation.

Across the country, 25 house searches were carried out during the operation. The members of the gang have been arrested. The United States has been notified of the operation against these cyber criminals because Washington had specifically requested action against REvil from the Russian government.

President Joe Biden himself last summer urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to take more action against criminal hacker groups operating in Russia. That was after a considerable cyberattack in July that affected approximately 1,500 companies in many countries.

Ransomware software forces victims to pay a large ransom. REvil, for example, extorted 11 million dollars from an American meat processing company in 2021.

Earlier that year, an oil pipeline group in the US was hit. It is unknown if and how much ransom Colonial Pipeline paid to get out of the trouble. The cyber-attack forced a major oil pipeline to be temporarily shut down, causing fuel shortages at gas stations and soaring fuel prices. Russian hackers are also suspected of this, operating under the name DarkSide.