According to cybersecurity solutions provider Trend Micro, global law enforcement agencies have sought its assistance to prevent the release of their latest malware products by LockBit, a ransomware threat group.
In a covert operation, Trend Micro proactively installed security measures for its customers, anticipating LockBit’s imminent attack.
Ransomware poses one of the most serious cyber threats to organizations today, notorious for disrupting schools, hospitals, governments, businesses, and critical national infrastructure.
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“We are honored that our threat intelligence is uniquely valuable to global law enforcement in the shared mission to make the world safer,” said Robert McArdle, a leader in Trend Micro’s cybercrime research team and collaborator with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Crime Agency (NCA).
Ransomware attacks
Based on Trend Micro’s analysis and tracking of ransomware leak sites, LockBit accounted for approximately 25% of all ransomware leaks in 2023, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for victims.
The operation involved seizing control of LockBit’s leak site, revealing information about group members, their personal identities, and details of their previous activities. These actions effectively ostracize and discredit LockBit within the cybercrime community, making it untenable as an underground business.
This is all transpiring while enriching a handful of small cybercrime groups: last year, victims paid a record amount of over $1 billion to these groups and their affiliates.
Trend Micro has delivered advanced protection against LockBit-NG-Dev for its customers, neutralizing a potentially prolific strain of ransomware and preventing its future use by malicious actors.
This joint law enforcement operation aims to bring an end to LockBit as we know it and establish a new standard for international collaboration between law enforcement agencies and private partners.