Police forces in Germany and Ukraine have exposed the Double-Spider hacker network (“Double Spider”), which carried out large-scale cyber attacks using DoppelPaymer ransomware.
According to DW, the North Rhine-Westphalia State Criminal Affairs Office (LKA) and the National Police of Ukraine, with the support of Europol, the Dutch police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, conducted a successful large-scale operation on February 28 in two countries.
Representatives of the LKA said at a press conference on Monday that searches were carried out in Ukraine and Germany, evidence was seized and suspects were interrogated. Arrest warrants have been issued for three people, but so far they are out of the reach of European justice authorities.
The investigation showed that a 41-year-old Russian and a 32-year-old man, whose citizenship has not been established, were involved in several crimes. In the United States, a 5 million reward has been announced for helping to detain a Russian. An arrest warrant has also been issued for a Russian citizen who allegedly served as the “administrator” of Double-Spider.
At the request of Germany, Europol added two citizens of the Russian Federation to the list of especially wanted people: 31-year-old Igor Garshin, one of the organizers of cyber attacks, and 41-year-old Igor Turashev, a likely administrator of Double-Spider. The investigation identified 11 suspects living in Germany, Ukraine, Russia and Moldova.
The hacker group Double-Spider was formed in 2010. She began her work by blackmailing computer game players. Later, the criminal activity of hackers spread to the banking sector. The attackers caused damage to more than 600 firms, institutions and individuals.
In Germany alone, at least 37 companies were affected. Among them is the University Hospital in Düsseldorf. As a result of the actions of hackers, a 78-year-old patient died, who was in serious condition, who did not manage to be delivered to the clinic in an ambulance in time, writes edition.
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