More than $370 million in ransom payments have been received by the Russia-linked BlackSuit ransomware gang and its predecessor Royal from attacks against more than 450 U.S. organizations during the three years leading up to the disruption of its technical infrastructure in a global law enforcement effort in late July, according to CyberScoop.
Attacks by BlackSuit and Royal have been aimed at healthcare, education, energy, government, and public safety entities across the U.S., a report from the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations showed. Such a development comes after BlackSuit was noted by German officials part of the crackdown to have impacted 184 organizations. "Disrupting ransomware infrastructure is not only about taking down servers it's about dismantling the entire ecosystem that enables cybercriminals to operate with impunity," said HSI Cyber Crimes Center Deputy Assistant Director Michael Prado. However, BlackSuit's dismantling was regarded by RedSense co-founder and partner Yelisey Boguslavskiy as having a limited effect, as its affiliates had already joined other operations before the law enforcement clampdown.
Attacks by BlackSuit and Royal have been aimed at healthcare, education, energy, government, and public safety entities across the U.S., a report from the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations showed. Such a development comes after BlackSuit was noted by German officials part of the crackdown to have impacted 184 organizations. "Disrupting ransomware infrastructure is not only about taking down servers it's about dismantling the entire ecosystem that enables cybercriminals to operate with impunity," said HSI Cyber Crimes Center Deputy Assistant Director Michael Prado. However, BlackSuit's dismantling was regarded by RedSense co-founder and partner Yelisey Boguslavskiy as having a limited effect, as its affiliates had already joined other operations before the law enforcement clampdown.
