How Law Enforcement's Ransomware Strategies Are Evolving

Source: Andreas Prott via Alamy Stock Photo

COMMENTARY

The year to date has been particularly eventful across the ransomware landscape, with prolific ransomware groups, including LockBit, seeing their operations seized and dismantled. The strategies used to take down these groups were meticulously planned and executed, successfully undermining the most accomplished cybercriminal experts.

The fight against ransomware has for years felt like an uphill battle. Each takedown faces the inevitable criticism that these actions are temporary, resulting in groups reforming and coming back.

However, the past year has seen some of history’s biggest takedowns, with international collaborative efforts from law enforcement employing new tactics. Are we seeing the balance of power beginning to shift?

The Development of Law Enforcement’s Strategy

Law enforcement agencies have had to change their approach to remain successful in an environment where cybercriminal gangs adapt and develop constantly. Although previous takedowns have shown initial success in disrupting gangs on a technical level, law enforcement agencies have recognized the need to go further and think outside of the box.

Adding a twist, ransomware takedown teams are focusing on publicly damaging groups’ credibility, acknowledging the fact that reputation and trust are (somewhat counterintuitively) valued commodities on the Dark Web.

Law enforcement’s new approach was rolled out with Operation Cronos, the disruption campaign against one of the most prolific ransomware gangs, LockBit.

With a force of 10 countries’ law enforcement agencies, the highlights of the takedown included 34 servers being seized, 200 cryptocurrency accounts being frozen, and two arrests taking place, and it didn’t stop there.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) deployed psyops methods, using LockBits’ own site, which it had hijacked, to publish images of LockBit’s administration system and leak internal conversations, while publishing the usernames and login details of 194 LockBit “affiliate” members. Then, the unmasking of “LockBitSupp” — the gang’s leader — was teased with a countdown timer on the LockBit website, eventually naming him as Dmitry Khoroshev. Law enforcement also implied that he had collaborated with them by leaking the affiliate’s details, creating more doubt among Dark Web associates.

When logging in to their systems, LockBit members were greeted with personalized messages stating that the authorities had details regarding their IP addresses, cryptocurrency wallet details, internal chats, and their personal identity.

Law enforcement’s strategy undermined LockBit’s reputation and emphasized its fragility. Hijacking the website exposed infrastructure weaknesses, unmasking LockBit’s leader proved he had weak operations security, and leaking the affiliates demonstrated the risks of associating with LockBit. These methods dethroned LockBit’s reputation further. Although the group is still active, recent data shows that the average number of monthly LockBit attacks in the UK has reduced by 73% since February.

The Snowball Effect in the Dark Web Community

The LockBit takedown has caused a ripple effect and garnered a lot of attention across the ransomware landscape, eliciting the message that if LockBit can be taken down, anyone could be next. Targeting the biggest ransomware group was law enforcement’s message that no group is beyond its reach.

Two weeks later, BlackCat, the second biggest ransomware group, claimed to have been disrupted by law enforcement, even uploading a fake seizure banner. However, law enforcement quickly denied its involvement. In fact, the group appears to have closed itself down after stealing a large sum of money from its affiliate, following a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare. The timing of BlackCat’s retirement suggests a potential reaction to the LockBit takedown, showing a newfound sense of fear on the Dark Web.

What Comes Next?

Disrupting some of the world’s most dangerous and prolific ransomware groups such as LockBit and BlackCat, which have dominated the ransomware landscape in recent years, is a huge achievement.

Of course, these successes have not immediately led to the collapse of the ransomware underground. In fact, our statistics show that there were 73 ransomware groups in operation in the first half 2024 compared with the same period for 2023, representing a 56% increase in the number of ransomware groups.

However, although there are more groups, we have seen a 16% decrease in victims listed between the second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024, which suggests that taking on the big groups with new tactics has had a measurable impact. It appears that what we are actually observing is a diversification — rather than growth — in the ransomware landscape.

A recent Europol report also highlighted a fragmentation of the ransomware landscape. While the threat is no longer coming primarily from a group of three to four dominant ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups, the affiliates who led a mass exodus have started their own operations, developing their own ransomware tooling and lessening their reliance on the big players.

This creates its own challenges for security professionals. A more diverse ransomware ecosystem means a more diverse landscape for cybersecurity teams to navigate. As things move quickly in the ransomware world, collecting up-to-date intelligence on ransomware groups is more important than ever before.

The threat of ransomware hasn’t gone away. However, law enforcement has certainly struck a blow by adjusting its tactics and has potentially created some breathing room for security professionals by taking out some of the biggest adversaries in the ransomware scene.

About the Author

CTO & Co-founder, Searchlight Cyber

Dr. Gareth Owenson is the CTO and co-founder of the Dark Web intelligence company Searchlight Cyber. Gareth completed his Ph.D. in computer science in 2007 and is a world leader in Tor Dark Web research. He advises governments, military, and law enforcement on Dark Web technologies and guides the development of a suite of technologies that have put Searchlight Cyber in the forefront of Dark Web investigative and intelligence efforts. Gareth co-founded Searchlight Cyber in 2017 to help governments, law enforcement, and enterprises in the fight to protect society from threats that emanate from the Dark Web.