Ransomware group LockBit is disrupted by a global police operation that includes 2 arrests WSOC TV [Video]

LONDON — (AP) — Law enforcement agencies have infiltrated and disrupted the prolific ransomware syndicate LockBit that has extracted $120 million from thousands of victims around the world, with two people arrested, British, U.S. and European officials said Tuesday.

Britain’s National Crime Agency, or NCA, said it led an international operation targeting LockBit, which provides ransomware as a service to so-called affiliates who infect victim networks with the computer-crippling malware and negotiate ransoms.

The operation resulted in the arrests of two people in Poland and Ukraine and the seizure of 200 cryptocurrency accounts, officials said at a joint news conference. The Justice Department, meanwhile, unsealed indictments against two more people, both Russian nationals.

Authorities said they gained “comprehensive access” to LockBit’s systems, taking control of infrastructure and obtaining keys to help victims decrypt their data.

“We have hacked the hackers,” said the NCA’s director general, Graeme Biggar. “LockBit has been …