International cybercriminal group liquidated the one who stole millions of euros

German police announced this Monday that they have dismantled an organized international cybercrime network that has been blackmailing several large companies and institutions for years, managing to steal millions of euros.

The operation, carried out in partnership with the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol), the US Federal Police (FBI) and Ukrainian authorities, identified 11 individuals linked to the group, which has been committing these crimes since at least 2010. .

Among the most notorious victims is the Düsseldorf University Hospital, whose computers were infected in 2020 with a type of “ransomware” (malicious “software” that steals data to charge access fees) known as DoppelPaymer.

This operation by an organized group led to the death of a woman who needed urgent treatment, but she had to be taken to another city for help.

According to Dirk Kunze, coordinator of the German State Police’s cybercrime department in North Rhine-Westphalia, 601 victims have been identified worldwide, including 37 in Germany.

Europol said victims in the United States paid at least €40 million between May 2019 and March 2021 to the organized network.

The network specialized in a “big hunt,” Kunze explained, adding that the group ran a professional recruiting operation, recruiting new members with the promise of paid vacations and asking applicants for information on past cybercrimes.

The North Rhine-Westphalia police coordinator also said the operation included simultaneous raids in Germany and Ukraine on February 28, which resulted in the seizure of evidence and the arrest of several suspects.

Three other suspects, two of whom are Russian citizens, cannot be detained because they are outside the jurisdiction of European authorities, Dirk Kunze said.