Ransomware group Lockbit appears to have been hacked, analysts say
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The ransom-seeking cybercriminals behind the extortion group Lockbit appear to have suffered a breach of their own, according to a rogue post to one of the group's websites and security analysts who follow the gang.
On Wednesday one of Lockbit's darkweb sites was replaced with a message saying, "Don't do crime CRIME IS BAD xoxo from Prague" and a link to an apparent cache of leaked data.
Reuters could not immediately verify the data, which appeared to capture chats between the hackers and their victims, among other things. But others who sifted through the material told Reuters it appeared authentic.
"It's legit," said Jon DiMaggio, the chief security strategist with the cybersecurity company Analyst1.
Christiaan Beek, senior director of threat analytics at cybersecurity firm Rapid7, agreed the leak "looks really authentic." He said he was struck by how it showed Lockbit's hackers hustling even for modest payouts from small businesses.
"They attack everyone," he said.
Reuters could not immediately reach Lockbit or establish who had apparently leaked their data. Some darkweb sites associated with Lockbit appeared to be inoperative on Thursday, displaying a note saying they would be "working soon."
Lockbit is one of the world's most prolific cyber extortion gangs - diMaggio once called it "the Walmart of ransomware groups" - and it has survived past disruptions. Last year British and U.S. officials worked with a coalition of international law enforcement agencies to seize some of the gang's infrastructure. A few days later, the group defiantly announced it was back online, saying, "I cannot be stopped."
Behind the bravado, diMaggio said this week's hack was an embarrassment.
"I think it will hurt them and slow them down," he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Two crew injured, two missing on vessel attacked near Yemen's Hodeidah, Ambrey says
DUBAI (Reuters) -Two crew were injured and two others missing on a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier that was attacked with skiffs and drones 49 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah, British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Monday. Ambrey said the vessel's engines had reportedly been disabled and it had started to drift. It did not identify the ship. A maritime security source had told Reuters a vessel near Hodeidah was under drone attack and had issued a mayday call. Earlier in the day, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said that the Magic Seas, a cargo ship they attacked with gunfire, rockets and explosive-laden remote-controlled boats, had sunk in the Red Sea, after their first known attack on the high seas this year.
Boston Globe
2 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Epstein ‘client list' doesn't exist, Justice Department says, walking back theory Bondi had promoted
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up That episode, in which conservative internet personalities were invited to the White House in February and provided with binders marked 'The Epstein Files: Phase 1' and 'Declassified' that contained documents that had largely already been in the public domain, has spurred far-right influencers to lambast and deride Bondi. Advertisement After the first release fell flat, Bondi said officials were pouring over a 'truckload' of previously withheld evidence she said had been handed over by the FBI. In a March TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration 'sat on these documents, no one did anything with them,' adding: 'Sadly these people don't believe in transparency, but I think more unfortunately, I think a lot of them don't believe in honesty.' Advertisement But after a months-long review of evidence in the government's possession, the Justice Department determined that no 'further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted,' the memo says. The department noted that much of the material was placed under seal by a court to protect victims and 'only a fraction' of it 'would have been aired publicly had Epstein gone to trial.' The two-page memo bore the logos of the Justice Department and the FBI but was not signed by any individual official. 'One of our highest priorities is combatting child exploitation and bringing justice to victims,' the memo says. Perpetuating unfounded theories about Epstein serves neither of those ends.' Conservatives who have sought proof of a government coverup of Epstein's activities and death expressed outrage Monday over the department's position. Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec posted: 'We were all told more was coming. That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn't have to be.' Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote that 'next the DOJ will say 'Actually, Jeffrey Epstein never even existed,' calling it 'over the top sickening.' Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown applying makeup appearing to mock Bondi for saying the client list doesn't exist after suggesting months ago that it was on her desk. Among the evidence that the Justice Department says it has in its possession are photographs and more than 10,000 videos and images that officials said depicted child sex abuse material or 'other pornography.' Bondi had earlier suggested that part of the reason for the delay in releasing additional Epstein materials was because the FBI needed to review 'tens of thousands' of recordings that she said showed Epstein 'with children or child porn.' Advertisement The Associated Press published a story last week about the unanswered questions surrounding those videos. Multiple people who participated in the criminal cases of Epstein and former British socialite girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell told AP that they had not seen and did not know of a trove of recordings along the lines of what Bondi had referenced. Indictments and detention memos also don't allege the existence of video recordings and neither Epstein nor Maxwell were charged with possession of child sex abuse material even though that would have been easier for prosecutors to prove than the sex trafficking counts they faced. The AP did find reference in a filing in a civil lawsuit to the discovery by the Epstein estate of videos and pictures that could constitute child sex abuse material, but lawyers involved in that case said a protective order prevents them from discovering the specifics of that evidence. The Justice Department did not respond to a detailed list of questions from AP about the videos Bondi was referencing. Monday's memo does not explain when or where they were located, what they depict and whether they were newly found as investigators scoured their collection of evidence or were known for some time to have been in the government's possession. Epstein was found dead in his jail cell in August 2019, weeks after his arrest on sex trafficking charges, in a suicide that foreclosed the possibility of a trial. Advertisement The department's disclosure that Epstein took his own life is hardly a revelation even though conspiracy theorists have continued to challenge that conclusion. In 2019, for instance, then-Attorney General William Barr told the AP in an interview that he had personally reviewed security footage that revealed that no one entered the area where Epstein was housed on the night he died and Barr had concluded that Epstein's suicide was the result of 'a perfect storm of screw-ups.' More recently, FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have insisted in television and podcast interviews that the evidence was clear that Epstein had killed himself.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Body found in search for Brian Tarrence on Turks and Caicos was short walk from where New Yorker vanished: report
A decomposing body found on Turks and Caicos Island during the search for missing New Yorker Brian Tarrence was just a short walk from his hotel, according to a new report. Cops found the unidentified body on July 5, not far from the Paradise Inn in Grace Bay where Tarrence and his wife stayed before he went missing, private investigator Carl DeFazio told People magazine. '[The body] was found a 20-minute walk from where he was last seen,' DeFazio, a former Marine and NYPD cop, told the outlet. 'I would say about a block off of Leeward Highway in a little residential commercial area.' Advertisement 4 Brian Tarrence, 51, was on a romantic getaway with his wife on Turks and Caicos when he went missing on June 28. Facebook 4 Police on Turks and Caicos Island said a body found during the search for Brian Tarrence is part of a murder probe. Police have not yet identified the body — which is now the subject of a murder investigation — and DeFazio cautioned about making assumptions on whether it is Tarrence. Advertisement 'You can't just look at, say, a watch, sneakers and a pair of shorts,' he told People. 'Anybody could be wearing that. What if we say, 'Yeah, that's his watch, that's his shorts,' and then find out somebody else had them. And if that were the truth, then this investigation takes a turn tremendously right there. 4 Brian and Maria Tarrance were on an anniversary getaway on Turks and Caicos Island when he disappeared June 28. 'But we're not there yet,' DeFazio added. 'But hopefully we'll get there today or soon.' Tarrence, 51, arrived on the British territory on June 25 for a romantic anniversary getaway with his wife, Maria, but disappeared from the resort in the middle of the night three days later as she slept. Advertisement Police said an investigation into his disappearance is ongoing. Tarrence, a vice president with Diligent Software in Manhattan, recently moved to the Big Apple from upstate Monroe, where neighbors said Monday that the couple was not very outgoing. They said the family moved to Manhattan to be close to Tarrence's stepson, who is in college there. 4 Brian and Maria Tarrence rented this house in upstate Monroe for about two years before moving to Manhattan. Matthew McDermott Advertisement 'He was renting here for the past 2 years,' one woman said. 'He seemed like a nice guy. He worked from home most of the time. They were going into the city now that [their] boy was graduating from high school. Just to be in the city, explore. 'They were going to be empty nesters,' she added. 'I know a lot of the neighbors didn't really know them. They kept to themselves.' Tarrence's family has not responded to requests for comment. Additional reporting by Desheania Andrews.
