The notorious Lockbit hacking gang arrested: the city of Gerardsbergen was a victim in our country last year | News

The hacker group had its own website, where, among other things, the names of victims who did not pay quickly were published. “This site is now under the control of the UK’s National Crime Agency, which worked closely with the FBI and the international task force for ‘Operation Kronos,’” the text now reads. It added that the services of France, Japan, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany were also involved in the operation.

Nothing is known about any arrests. According to spokesmen for the British National Crime Agency and the US Department of Justice, the operation is still ongoing. Lockbit, possibly founded by Russian hackers, has become the world's most feared criminal hacker gang in just a few years.

Last year, Lockbit dumped 7GB of documents stolen from the city of Geraardsbergen onto the Internet. It was stolen in September 2022. This mainly concerns financial data, such as citizens with debt mediation and people with medical problems. Last year, the group also broke into China's largest bank and became a victim of British postal company Royal Mail.

The Dutch Football Association KNVB was also hacked by Lockbit. The Dutch Football Association then paid a ransom – perhaps more than €1 million – to, among other things, prevent the compromised personal data of members from becoming public.

On the now-defunct website, the group said it was based in the Netherlands. According to US authorities, the gang struck more than 1,700 organizations in the United States, ranging from financial and educational institutions to food companies to government departments. It demanded a ransom of more than $100 million.