Moldova’s law enforcement arrested a 45-year-old foreigner suspected of being involved in a series of ransomware attacks targeting Dutch companies in 2021.
“He internationally hopes that he has committed several cybercrimes (ransomware attacks, fearful mail and money laundering) against a Netherlands-based company,” the official said in a statement Monday.
In connection with the arrest, police seized more than 84,000 euros ($93,000) on cash, an e-wallet, two laptops, mobile phones, tablets, six bank cards, two data storage devices and six memory cards.
The suspect’s name has not been revealed. However, he is said to have been detained after searching for his residence in Moldova. In at least one example, individuals carried out a ransomware attack against the Dutch Scientific Research Institute (NWO), causing material damage worth around 4.5 million euros.
The attack took place in February 2021, with internal documents leaking after the organization refused to pay. This was due to the ransomware crew known as Doppelpaymer.
“The attacker blocked the network drive, rendered the documents inaccessible, and stole some of our files,” the NWO had made public at the time. “According to the ransom request that the NWO could not accept based on principles and would not accept, the organization has published some of the stolen files.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhpehjqag9g
Doppelpaymer, a ransomware family that first appeared in June 2019, is thought to be based on BitPaymer ransomware due to similarities in source code, ransom notes and payment portals.
In March 2023, German and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies targeted suspected core members of cybercrime groups behind the massive attack using Doppelpaymer ransomware.
Germany is also known as the arrest fight on the alleged arrest of three Doperpeimer operatives, along with Lgor Olegovich Turachashev, Igor Garshin (aka Igor Garsin), and Igo Zemlianikina (the “traint of a detective group.”
