Summary:
Four suspected European hackers were recently arrested in Phuket, Thailand, in connection with cyberattacks targeting over 1,000 victims worldwide. Dubbed, “Operation Phobos Aetor,” the arrest was carried out by Thai authorities after an urgent request for international cooperation from Swiss and US law enforcement. Authorities reportedly seized over 40 pieces of evidence, including mobile phones, laptops, and digital wallets. The suspects are believed to be responsible for deploying Phobos ransomware against 17 companies in Switzerland between April 2023 and October 2024, resulting in a total of $16 million in ransom payments. These funds were allegedly laundered through cryptocurrency mixing platforms, complicating efforts by authorities to trace the proceeds back to the perpetrators.

What is believed to be apart of the same operation, the data leak and negotiation sites associated with the 8Base ransomware gang have also been taken down. Visitors of the data leak site are now met with a seizure notice reading, "This hidden site and the criminal content have been seized by the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office on behalf of the Office of the Public Prosecutor General in Bamberg." Based on the banner notice displayed on 8Base’s data leak site, the takedown operation involved the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA), the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Europol, and law enforcement agencies from multiple countries, including Bavaria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Japan, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Security Officer Comments:
8Base is a double extortion group that initiated operations in 2023. The group mainly targets small to mid-size business based in the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, etc. While its unclear if the four suspects arrested are also linked to the 8Base ransomware operation, 8Base has incorporated Phobos ransomware artifacts in its attacks, with VMware previously uncovering a Phobos sample using a .8base file extension on encrypted files. 8Base also seems to share overlaps with the notorious RansomHouse gang, with researchers identifying similarities in their ransom notes and dark web infrastructure. However, it has not been confirmed whether the two groups are the same.

Suggested Corrections:
The latest development follows law enforcement efforts to disrupt the infrastructure of prominent ransomware groups such as BlackCat in December 2023 and LockBit in February 2024. While these takedown operations have been effective in dismantling the core operations of these groups, affiliates—who are responsible for gaining initial access to victim environments and launching the encryptor on behalf of the groups for a share of the profits—have quickly joined other groups like RansomHub, perpetuating an ongoing cycle of cybercrime and ransomware attacks.

General Ransomware Suggested Corrections:

Backup your data, system images, and configurations, regularly test them, and keep the backups offline: Ensure that backups are regularly tested and that they are not connected to the business network, as many ransomware variants try to find and encrypt or delete accessible backups. Maintaining current backups offline is critical because if your network data is encrypted with ransomware, your organization can restore systems.

Update and patch systems promptly: This includes maintaining the security of operating systems, applications, and firmware in a timely manner. Consider using a centralized patch management system; use a risk-based assessment strategy to drive your patch management program.

Test your incident response plan: There's nothing that shows the gaps in plans more than testing them. Run through some core questions and use those to build an incident response plan: Are you able to sustain business operations without access to certain systems? For how long? Would you turn off your manufacturing operations if business systems such as billing were offline?

Check Your Security Team's Work: Use a 3rd party pen tester to test the security of your systems and your ability to defend against a sophisticated attack. Many ransomware criminals are aggressive and sophisticated and will find the equivalent of unlocked doors.

Segment your networks: There's been a recent shift in ransomware attacks – from stealing data to disrupting operations. It's critically important that your corporate business functions and manufacturing/production operations are separated and that you carefully filter and limit internet access to operational networks, identify links between these networks, and develop workarounds or manual controls to ensure ICS networks can be isolated and continue operating if your corporate network is compromised. Regularly test contingency plans such as manual controls so that safety-critical functions can be maintained during a cyber incident.

Train employees: Email remains the most vulnerable attack vector for organizations. Users should be trained on how to avoid and spot phishing emails. Multi-factor authentication can help prevent malicious access to sensitive services.

Link(s):
https://thehackernews.com/2025/02/8base-ransomware-data-leak-sites-seized.html