Stormous published data that allegedly belongs to a number of French government institutions, including AFD, ARS, CAF and the Court of Auditors. The leak includes email addresses and passwords encrypted with the weak MD5 method.
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The US Department of Justice has indicted Russian national Rustam Gallyamov, who is believed to be the main creator of the Qakbot malware, which has been implicated in massive ransomware campaigns around the world.
In August 2023, an international special operation took place with the participation of six countries, including France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, as a result of which the Qakbot botnet was neutralized and the code was removed from the affected machines. The group then changed tactics, moving to “spam-bombing” company employees in order to fraudulently gain access to networks.
In addition, a civil lawsuit was filed to seize Gallyamov’s assets worth more than 24 million $
Qakbot played a key role in the cybercriminal landscape, providing the initial infection before ransomware attacks. The global operation to eliminate it, which took place in 2023, was one of the largest in the botnet industry. In addition to Qakbot, the US Department of Justice also charged 16 individuals in connection with DanaBot, another powerful malware that infected 300,000+ devices and caused over50 million $ in damage.
The Qakbot story demonstrates how the combination of technological developments, long-term operations, and partnerships on the darknet can lead to real financial attacks on businesses around the world. The developer’s arrest and indictment is a signal of international cooperation and law enforcement’s readiness to fight sophisticated cyber groups.
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