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Darkweb sites linked to the ransomware gang REvil were down Tuesday morning, CNBC has confirmed.
It’s not clear what caused the ransomware-as-service group’s websites to go down on Tuesday.
The disappearance of the publicly accessible sites associated with Russia-affiliated REVil, also known as Sodinokibi, follows an international ransomware outbreak on July 2 that the group was held responsible for.
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The group also reportedly recently attacked JBS computers, forcing the world’s largest meat packer to cease operations in the United States for a day in June, and also to suspend operations in Australia.
JBS paid the equivalent of $ 11 million in ransom to get the gang to reverse the attack.
Visitors to the last active sites were greeted with the message “A server with the specified host name could not be found”.
Bleeping Computer’s Lawrence Abrams tweeted earlier Tuesday that REvil sites were down
Several cybersecurity officials later confirmed this report to CNBC’s Eamon Javers.
Ransomware attacks involve malware that encrypts files on a device or network, causing the system to become inoperable. Criminals behind such cyberattacks usually request payment in exchange for the release of data.
The FBI previously warned victims of ransomware attacks that paying a ransom could encourage further malicious activity.
The latest ransomware attack, announced earlier this month by Florida-based software provider Kaseya, spread to at least six European countries, breaking the networks of thousands in the United States.
In May, a hacking group called DarkSide with alleged links to Russian criminals launched a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, forcing the US company to shut down a pipeline roughly 5,500 miles long.
It cut fuel supplies to the east coast by nearly half, causing fuel shortages in the southeast and disruption to airlines. Colonial Pipeline paid a $ 5 million ransom to the cyber criminals to restart operations.
A few weeks after the attack, US law enforcement agencies were able to recover $ 2.3 million worth of bitcoins from the hacking group.
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