The Ransomware gang known as Hunters International announced on its dark website on Thursday that it is closing.
“After a careful examination and in the light of recent developments, we have decided to close the international Hunters project,” hackers write in one position, without clarifying what specific developments were reported. “This decision has not been made slightly and we recognize the impact it has on the organizations with which we have interacted.”
Hackers also said they offer free decryption keys “to all companies that have been influenced by our ransomware”.
“Our goal is to ensure that you can recover your encrypted data without the burden of whitening payment,” the gang wrote, which asked the victims to visit its official website to obtain the decryption keys and recover the encrypted files.
At the time of writing, there is no such information on the site.
Hunters International has claimed many victims in its two years of existence, including US Cancer Center and the US soldiers; However, the law enforcement service refused to have been scared From the crime gang to cybercrime.
Several gangs of ransomware in the past have released their victims’ decryption keys and then closed each of them for a variety of reasons. Some have just been closed to return with a new name, perhaps in an effort to confuse researchers and law enforcement services and sometimes escape sanctions. Others decided to name it, after receiving enough funds to retire.
In the case of Hunters International, it is still too early to say what the gang’s motives are, but there were signs already in April showing a reconstruction and transition to a group called World Leaks, according to Allan Liska, an analyst in information.
“I think this is more a ‘bond cut’ with the old infrastructure,” said Liska, who has been watching the ransomware for years. “As for the release of the decryption keys, at this point they are not likely to make money from the victims of hunters who are still out there.
The World Deaks Group uses a new ransomware software and has a new site hosted elsewhere, but people behind it can be the same, Liska said.
Liska said the reason for the gang will be dark may be that “using the same technical infrastructure for a long time makes you more vulnerable to law enforcement”, referring to Kypseli, a ransomware gang seized and closed by the FBI in 2023.
“Or, they took the wind that the law enforcement closed and decided to move forward,” he said.
