Global Crackdown: Interpol Breaks Down 6 Ransomware Strains, Captures Hundreds

Interpol-led Operation Decrypts 6 Ransomware Strains, Arrests Hundreds

An initiative spearheaded by Interpol, known as Operation Sentinel, has resulted in the apprehension of 574 individuals and the retrieval of $3 million associated with business email compromise, extortion, and ransomware incidents.

Running from October 27 to November 27, this collaborative investigation involving law enforcement agencies from 19 countries successfully dismantled over 6,000 malicious links and decrypted six distinct ransomware variants.

Interpol reports that the cybercrime cases under scrutiny are linked to more than $21 million in financial losses.

The recent Operation Sentinel by Interpol has seen significant achievements, including:

• Senegal: Prevention of a $7.9 million BEC wire transfer targeting a petroleum company by freezing accounts before funds were withdrawn.
• Ghana: Recovery of $120,000 and decryption of 30 TB of data following a ransomware attack on a financial institution, leading to multiple arrests.
• Ghana/Nigeria: Disruption of a cross-border scam defrauding over $400,000 from 200+ victims, resulting in ten suspects arrested and the seizure of devices and servers.
• Benin: 106 arrests, removal of 43 malicious domains, and shutting down of 4,318 scam-related social media accounts.
• Cameroon: Swift action against an online vehicle sales scam, including tracing compromised servers and initiating emergency bank freezes.

“The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa are accelerating, especially against critical sectors like finance and energy,” stated Neal Jetton, Director of Cybercrime at Interpol.

“The outcomes from Operation Sentinel reflect the commitment of African law enforcement agencies, working in close coordination with international partners.”

Key private sector partners, including Team Cymru, The Shadowserver Foundation, Trend Micro, TRM Labs, and Uppsala Security, assisted in the investigations by tracing IP addresses used in cyberattacks and freezing illicit funds.

In a previous operation named ‘Serengeti 2.0,’ coordinated by Interpol, 1,209 cybercrime suspects were arrested, $97.4 million of illicit funds were recovered, and 11,432 malicious infrastructures were dismantled.

Another successful Interpol-led crackdown, ‘Operation Red Card,’ resulted in 306 suspects apprehended, 1,842 devices seized, and the disruption of scams victimizing over 5,000 individuals.

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