Ransomware group takedown emphasizes importance of cooperation with government investigations

Notorious ransomware group ALPHV’s public-facing leak site, where the criminal enterprise leaks businesses' stolen data, was knocked out of service late last week. The outage led security researchers to speculate that a law enforcement operation may have disrupted the group’s activities. Hackers with connections to the ransomware group also confirmed chatter that the leak site’s outage was not caused by mere technical difficulties, but by a concerted effort by the FBI. A prolific group, ALPHV was reported to be responsible for 15% of ransomware attacks that occurred in the first half of 2023.

FBI and other law enforcement actions like this typically precede the arrest and criminal prosecution of cybercriminals. The takedown highlights the importance of business organizations’ full cooperation with government investigations into cyberattacks. Such cooperation often yields the government important forensic evidence critical to bringing cybercriminals to justice.

Attorneys from McDonald Hopkins’ national data privacy and cybersecurity practice group are available to counsel business organizations on preparing for and responding to ransomware attacks.