The unprecedented move — which will undoubtedly send a message to other ransomware groups operating out of the country — saw the Russian authorities conduct raids at 25 addresses across the Moscow, St. Petersburg and Lipetsk regions that belonged to 14 suspected members of REvil.
The gang, which shut down its operations in July before a failed comeback in September, is believed to have orchestrated some of the most damaging attacks of the past 12 months, including those targeting Colonial Pipeline, JBS Foods and U.S. technology firm Kaseya.
Comment: Actually, there's good reason to believe that at least some of the above hacks were actually the work of the CIA: Toshiba hacked by DarkSide, Kaspersky founder suggests CIA may be behind group's Colonial Pipeline attack
The FSB said it seized more than 426 million rubles and €500,000 (about $6 million), as well as $600,000 in cash, and cryptocurrency wallets, computers and 20 high-end cars.
In a statement, the FSB said it conducted the search operation at the request of U.S. authorities, which were notified of their results.
Comment: One can't imagine the US being so cooperative.
The detained members of the ransomware gang were charged under Russian law for the alleged "illegal circulation of means of payment." Russian authorities have not released the names of any of the suspects.
"As a result of joint actions of the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, the organized criminal community ceased to exist, the information infrastructure used for criminal purposes was neutralized," the FSB said in a statement.
News of the FSB's surprise operation comes just two months after the U.S. Department of Justice charged a 22-year-old Ukrainian citizen linked to the REvil ransomware gang for orchestrating the July ransomware attack against U.S. technology firm Kaseya. Seven other REvil gang members were also arrested throughout 2021 following operations coordinated by Europol. In July, President Biden urged Russia to follow suit, pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin to take action to disrupt these criminal gangs.
The action taken by the FSB also comes just hours after a major cyberattack took down government websites in Ukraine on Friday, including websites for the foreign ministry, national security and defense council and the government's cabinet of ministers. Officials said it was too early to draw any conclusions but they pointed to a "long record" of Russian cyber assaults against Ukraine.
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2022-01-17
The world's first strategic electronic warfare complex controls the entire Europe
The Murmansk-BN electronic warfare complex deployed by Russia on the Kola Peninsula in May demonstrated unique capabilities during the exercise and "angered the United States." Because in the United States, there is no comparable electronic warfare complex. It does threaten the safety of US military aircraft and navy, making their vulnerability a critical point, especially the F-35. The Murmansk electronic warfare complex is deployed in Crimea, the Kola Peninsula, the Kaliningrad region and the Far East. That is, it operates in all four fleets-the Black Sea, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This mysterious set of electronic warfare weapons can be seen on satellite photos.Bulgarian military expert Bojko Nikolov responded to the publication in the "Bulgarian Military" magazine. He proposed to test its impact on 28 fifth-generation F-35 fighters purchased by Norway from the United States (a total of 52 were ordered). The Kola Peninsula and its deployed electronic warfare complex are located near the Norwegian border.
The Murmansk electronic warfare complex is unique in that it is strategic . Prior to this, the radio waves of the famous Russian "Krasui-4" had a maximum range of no more than 300 kilometers against enemy technical equipment and were deployed at the Khmemim military base in Syria, Russia. Murmansk has a coverage radius of 5,000 kilometers, and if the radio waves pass through well, the range can reach 8,000 kilometers.
This system can detect radio technology, intercept and suppress enemy signals. It covers the entire shortwave range (3-30 MHz frequency) and is used for ship and aircraft command and communication satellite radio communications.Murmansk can automatically scan electronic signals in a wide range of spaces. If a wireless signal is found, analyze the frequency of information exchange. You can also discover the affiliation of the radio exchange source. The enemy's transmitter began to be jammed by the narrow frequency.Obviously, the frequency of enemy transmitters is floating, and they are constantly changing to get rid of jammers. However, Murmansk's high-performance digital equipment can track these changes, and Murmansk's suppressed signal frequency can automatically track the floating frequency of enemy transmitters.
The Russian Murmansk system can "serve" several enemy transmitters. The exact number of these channels, as confidential information, was not disclosed.It is very important that Murmansk can prevent communications between ships and aircraft and satellites and inhibit satellite communications. Murmansk can blind the descending aircraft and ships, and the reconnaissance aircraft loses the ability to transmit the collected intelligence. The early warning aircraft cannot issue the fighter's coordinates and speed to the air target. Yuanhang warship cannot perform combat missionsIn a network-centric situation, losing contact with the outside world is tantamount to paralysis. This paralysis covers all the enemy's military equipment within 5,000 kilometers of Murmansk.
The Murmansk electronic warfare system operates in a frequency range of 3 MHz to 30 MHz and can also interfere with GPS. The GPS signals of military equipment are transmitted on two frequencies outside the shortwave range, namely 1575.42 MHz and 1227.6 MHz. However, it is reported that in the foreseeable future, Murmansk's range will be expanded to include decimeter waves running GPS systems.Russian radio equipment has repeatedly caused electronic interference in Syria, so American aircraft pilots complained about navigation system failures and encountered great difficulties in flight missions.This threat severely oppressed the Americans. Therefore, 4 years ago, they continued to develop the "antidote" in the aurora mode, which was in an unstable state 6 years ago. More than six months ago, the new GPS signal receiver was tested and adopted in the United States. Their actions are based on M-Code technology, with the difference being a more complex way of encoding information to prevent deception.When talking about the advantages of the Murmansk electronic warfare complex, it is necessary to point out its mobility. It was placed on seven high-passing Kamaz trucks, with antennas mounted on four 32-meter-high telescopic masts. It can be deployed within 72 hours. This is a perfect indicator, a strategic jammer, that can fundamentally affect the progress of the battle.