BlackSuit Ransomware Group’s Dark Web Sites Seized in Operation Checkmate
The US and partners from nine countries have taken down part of the ransomware group’s infrastructure
Ransomware encrypts or steals data to disrupt operations and extort victims, making backups, access controls, and incident response essential.
Search across headline titles and summaries.
Background for this topic.
Ransomware is malware used to deny access to systems or data, usually by encrypting files and demanding payment for decryption. Many operations also steal sensitive information and threaten to publish it, so an attack can create both an availability crisis and a privacy or disclosure risk. Initial access may involve phishing, stolen credentials, exposed remote services, or exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities; attackers may then move through the network before deploying the payload.
Defenses should combine vulnerability management, phishing-resistant authentication where practical, endpoint and network monitoring, and backups that are isolated from routine administrator access and regularly tested for recovery. Organizations should also limit privileges and segment critical systems to reduce the blast radius. An incident requires rapid containment, preservation of forensic evidence, restoration from known-good backups, and assessment of notification, legal, and regulatory obligations. Threat intelligence can help identify relevant criminal infrastructure or tactics, but it does not replace sound access control, patching, detection, and recovery practices.
The US and partners from nine countries have taken down part of the ransomware group’s infrastructure
Cisco Talos warned that the Chaos group, thought to be formed of former BlackSuit members, has launched a wave of attacks targeted a variety of sectors
Microsoft said Chinese actor Storm-2603 is deploying Warlock ransomware following the exploitation of vulnerabilities in on-prem SharePoint systems
The individual is accused of numerous illicit cybercrime and ransomware activities that have generated at least $7m in profit
NCC Group observed a 43% drop in ransomware attacks in Q2 2025, driven by law enforcement actions and internal conflicts in groups
The UK government said a public consultation showed widespread support on a payment ban for public sector and CNI organizations
Despite being a rebrand of several ransomware families, GLOBAL GROUP innovated with the use of an AI chatbot in the negotiation process