Moldovan legislation enforcement authorities have arrested a 45-year-old overseas man suspected of involvement in a sequence of ransomware assaults concentrating on Dutch firms in 2021.
“He’s wished internationally for committing a number of cybercrimes (ransomware assaults, blackmail, and cash laundering) in opposition to firms based mostly within the Netherlands,” officers mentioned in an announcement Monday.
Along with the arrest, police seized over €84,000 ($93,000) in money, an digital pockets, two laptops, a cell phone, a pill, six financial institution playing cards, two knowledge storage units, and 6 reminiscence playing cards.
The suspect’s identify was not disclosed. However he’s mentioned to have been detained after a search of his residence in Moldova. In at the least one occasion, the person performed a ransomware assault on the Netherlands Group for Scientific Analysis (NWO), inflicting materials harm value roughly €4.5 million.
The assault occurred in February 2021, ensuing within the leak of inner paperwork after the group refused to pay up. It was attributed to a ransomware crew generally known as DoppelPaymer.
“The attacker blocked community drives, rendered paperwork inaccessible, and stole a few of our information,” NWO disclosed on the time. “Following a requirement for a ransom, which NWO can not and won’t settle for on precept, the group revealed a few of the stolen information.”
DoppelPaymer, a ransomware household that first appeared in June 2019, is believed to be based mostly on the BitPaymer ransomware, as a consequence of similarities of their supply code, ransom notes, and fee portals.
In March 2023, legislation enforcement authorities from Germany and Ukraine focused suspected core members of a cybercrime group that has been behind large-scale assaults utilizing DoppelPaymer ransomware.
Germany additionally issued arrest warrants in opposition to three alleged DoppelPaymer operatives – lgor Olegovich Turashev, Igor Garshin (aka Igor Garschin), and Irina Zemlianikina – who’re mentioned to be the “masterminds of the prison group.”
