BlackCat Ransomware Gang Recovers From Early December Law Enforcement Operation, Restores Websites Seized by DOJ

By Scott Ikeda for CPO Magazine
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

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Ransomware gangs that get too big for their britches have been finding themselves targeted by joint law enforcement operations headed up by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over the last two years, and in early December it appeared that BlackCat/ALPHV was the latest to overstep its bounds in this way as its public-facing websites were seized. The group has since “re-seized” the sites, however, and made promises of wide-ranging retaliation.

Dr Ilia Kolochenko, CEO and Chief Architect at ImmuniWeb, cautions that the fight will not be over as long as ransomware groups have “safe harbor” countries to hide away in: ” … disruption of cybercrime’s infrastructure and selective arrests of identifiable cyber gang members is rarely sufficient. For example, a considerable number of seized hacking forums or marketplaces resurrected a few weeks after the seizure under a similar or new identity. Amid the global geopolitical uncertainty, many cybercrime groups safely operate from non-extraditable jurisdictions in absolute impunity. Payments of ransoms in cryptocurrencies – despite the several successful seizures of bitcoins that happened earlier this year – remain largely untraceable and immune to seizure. While somewhat utopic, unless nation-states manage to hammer out a truly global convention against cybercrime that would be ratified by all UN member states, the battle against organized cybercrime will be like fighting an immortal hydra.” Read Full Article