Spanish police arrest 16-year old leader of hacker group in Europe-wide probe
Europol said the gang carried out about 1,000 ransomware attacks in two years and obtained substantial ransom payments.
- On Oct 1, Spanish police arrested a 16-year-old Romanian national in Alicante suspected of being the administrator of KillSec, as part of a Europe-wide investigation into around 1,000 ransomware attacks.
- KillSec "exploited software vulnerabilities and poorly secured access points, particularly to cloud storage" to copy sensitive data, then threatened organizations with publication unless they paid ransom.
- Raids across Spain, Greece, Romania, and Britain yielded evidence and assets. Police arrested two additional suspects in their twenties, one in Britain and one in Romania.
- "The group obtained substantial ransom payments," a statement said. Puerto Rico filed an extradition request for the suspect arrested in Britain.
- Europol continues investigating the Europe-wide scope of the attacks while a fourth suspect—a developer who turned 18 in August—remains identified but not arrested.
126 Articles
126 Articles
Three arrests, searches in several countries: In an international operation, investigators took action against alleged Internet criminals. The group is said to have been active mainly in Germany.
A 16-year-old was arrested this Wednesday in Alicante, Spain, during an international operation involving the FBI and Europol. He is suspected of leading "KillSec", a group of hackers who have...
European and US law enforcement agencies have taken control of the servers and website of the cybercrime group KillSec, which investigators have linked to around 1,000 alleged attacks around the world, in an international operation called KillSwitch. The group is alleged to have exploited vulnerabilities and poorly secured access to steal sensitive data from companies and organizations, then demanded ransom from victims by threatening to publish…
Cybercriminals used artificial intelligence to build and maintain their ransomware infrastructure.
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