Hackers arrested accused of carrying out 7,000 cyber attacks

An international investigation has dealt a slap against hackers who are allegedly behind thousands of cyber-attacks using ransomware

Operation Gold Dust included 17 countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Canada, as well as Interpol, Europol and Eurojust, an agency of the European Union concerned with judicial cooperation

On Monday, the US Department of Justice announced the arrest in Poland of a Ukrainian man suspected of being behind cyber attacks, including a major attack on US service company Cassia

Hundreds of companies in the United States and other countries were attacked with ransomware via a vulnerability in Cassia in early July

Meanwhile, European Police and Eurojust announced the arrest of two people in Romania for allegedly using the same R-evil program to carry out cyber attacks

The suspects are accused of launching about 7,000 attacks against companies and organizations in which programs were used to block the contents of the computers of those organizations so that the attackers receive a ransom in exchange for ending the blocking.

It is claimed that they managed to make millions of euros

The two agencies of the European Union had announced the arrest of five others in other countries in the previous days

Eurojust said the cyber attacks targeted a wide range of organizations, including businesses, local governments, hospitals, schools, universities and courts

French, German, Romanian and Swiss teams were at the heart of the European operation, according to Eurojust

Interpol noted other arrests in Kuwait and South Korea linked to the exchange of intelligence information through the operation

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said at least $200 million in ransom has been paid so far in attacks using the R-Evil

Garland said the United States had requested the extradition of the 22-year-old Ukrainian man, and he was arrested upon entering Poland

He added that the US Department of Justice also seized $6.1 million allegedly stolen by a Russian hacker with the "R-Evil" program and accused of attacking about 3,000 targets with ransomware

On Monday, the US State Department offered a reward of $1 million for information leading to the identification or arrest of "R Evil" leaders or anyone involved in attacks using the program

This came after a similar reward a few days ago related to the electronic hacking group "Dark Side", which the United States believes is behind an attack on the largest fuel pipeline in America, which led to the temporary closure of operations completely

The hackers infiltrated the pipeline company's computer network and demanded a ransom of millions, paid by the company

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