The ransomware gang generally known as Hunters Worldwide introduced on its darkish net web page Thursday that it’s shutting down.
“After cautious consideration and in mild of latest developments, we have now determined to shut the Hunters Worldwide undertaking,” the hackers wrote in a put up, with out clarifying what particular developments it was referring to. “This determination was not made flippantly, and we acknowledge the impression it has on the organizations we have now interacted with.”
The hackers additionally mentioned they’re providing free decryption keys “to all firms which were impacted by our ransomware.”
“Our purpose is to make sure which you could recuperate your encrypted knowledge with out the burden of paying ransoms,” wrote the gang, which requested victims to go to its official website to acquire the decryption keys and to recuperate the encrypted information.
On the time of writing, there is no such thing as a such info on the web site.
Hunters Worldwide has claimed a number of victims in its two years of existence, together with a U.S. cancer center and the U.S. Marshals Service; nonetheless, the regulation enforcement company denied having been hacked by the cybercrime gang.
Several ransomware gangs up to now have launched their victims’ decryption keys, then shut down, every of them for various causes. Some shut down solely to return underneath a brand new identify, maybe in an try and confuse researchers and regulation enforcement companies and typically to escape sanctions. Others determined to name it quits after acquiring sufficient funds to retire.
Within the case of Hunters Worldwide, it’s nonetheless too early to inform what the gang’s motivations are for shutting down, however there have been indicators way back to April that time to a rebrand and transition to a bunch referred to as World Leaks, based on Allan Liska, a menace intelligence analyst at cybersecurity agency Recorded Future.
“I believe that is extra of a ‘reducing of ties’ with the outdated infrastructure,” mentioned Liska, who has been monitoring ransomware for years. “So far as releasing decryption keys, at this level they aren’t prone to make any cash from any Hunters’ victims who’re nonetheless on the market, so that they most likely see it as a gesture that doesn’t actually value them something.”
World Leaks group makes use of a brand new ransomware software program and has a brand new website hosted elsewhere, however the folks behind it could be the identical, mentioned Liska.
Liska mentioned the rationale for the gang going darkish could also be that “utilizing the identical technical infrastructure too lengthy makes you extra weak to regulation enforcement,” referring to Hive, a ransomware gang that was seized and shut down by the FBI in 2023.
“Or, they obtained wind that regulation enforcement was closing in and determined to get forward of them,” he mentioned.