Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
cyber daily logo
Breaking news and updates daily. Subscribe to our Newsletter

Ransomware group Ragnar Locker’s darknet leak site taken down by cyber cops

Yesterday (19 October), the site hosted the details of around 150 victims – now it’s only hosting a takedown notice.

user icon David Hollingworth
Fri, 20 Oct 2023
Ransomware group Ragnar Locker’s darknet leak site taken down by cyber cops
expand image

“This service has been seized as part of a coordinated international law enforcement action against the Ragnar Locker group,” the notice read.

Also present are the logos of a number of prominent law enforcement organisations, including Europol, the FBI, and a raft of other European agencies.

Speaking to Recorded Future, Europol deputy spokesperson Claire Georges confirmed the action.

============
============

“I can confirm that Europol is part of an ongoing action against this ransomware group,” Georges said. “A communication is planned for tomorrow afternoon when all the actions have been finalised.”

“A number of actions are still ongoing,” according to Georges.

The FBI has so far declined to comment.

Over the last four years, the Ragnar Locker gang has been responsible for at least 150 ransomware attacks on organisations all over the world. It was run as a ransomware-as-a-service operation and had most recently boasted of grabbing more than 80 gigabytes of data from a UK food and beverage manufacturer, as well as organisations in the US and Brazil.

The group’s most recent Australian victim was Network Pacific Real Estate. Ragnar Locker posted a raft of internal data from the company to its leak site, including personal employee information, in late September.

“After a very long wait for a reaction from ‘Network Pacific Real Estate’ management and attempts to convince management – that it is better to work together to fix the vulnerabilities and avoid leaks, we are forced to publish the entire data package,” a Ragnar Locker spokesperson said on its leak site at the time. “The ‘Network Pacific Real Estate’ management proved to be completely uninterested in protecting user data.”

It’s a good day for Network Pacific, and all of Ragnar Locker’s other victims.

David Hollingworth

David Hollingworth

David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.

newsletter
cyber daily subscribe
Be the first to hear the latest developments in the cyber industry.