Ransomware: REvil’s websites become unreachable
Washington: Websites run by the ransomware gang REvil suddenly became unreachable on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), sparking widespread speculation that the group had been knocked offline.
The Russia-linked cybercrime ring has collected tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments in return for restoring computer systems it has hacked. In recent weeks it claimed responsibility for a sprawling ransomware outbreak that affected an estimated 800 to 1500 businesses worldwide.
US President Joe Biden has pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop providing safe haven to REvil and other ransomware gangs.Credit:Bloomberg
Ransomware sites can be unreliable, and it was unclear whether the site’s disappearance was a momentary fluke or whether the hackers had downed tools or been removed from the internet by someone else. Both the group’s payment portal and its blog, which named and shamed their victims who refused to pay the ransoms they demanded, were unreachable.
The White House declined comment. An attempt to reach REvil, one of whose representatives briefly spoke with Reuters last week, was unsuccessful.
The disappearance is not necessarily significant.
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Vanishing acts are common in the ransomware world, where gangs tend to disappear and rebrand when they begin attracting too much heat.
REvil was already drawing top-level US government attention, and pressure has been mounting on Washington to take more decisive action against REvil and groups like it.
The United States has been hit by a string of high-profile hacks by ransom-seeking cybercriminals, including an intrusion into Colonial Pipeline which disrupted gasoline deliveries across the East Coast.
