The mastermind behind one the world's most dangerous hacker group has been unmasked, and a £8m reward has been offered for information leading to his capture.
Russian national Dmitry Khoroshev has been revealed as the administrator and developer of the LockBit ransomware group who were behind high-profile attacks on Royal Mail and Porton Down.
Khoroshev, AKA LockBitSupp, who thrived on anonymity and offered his own £8m reward to anyone who could reveal his identity, will now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans, according to the National Crime Agency.
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US agencies have also unsealed an indictment against him and are offering a reward of up to £8m for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
He has been sanctioned by the UK, US and Australia, following a National Crime Agency-led international disruption campaign involving the FBI and international partners, who form the Operation Cronos taskforce.
In February the NCA announced that it had infiltrated Khoroshev's group’s network and taken control of its services, including its leak site on the dark web, which compromised the entire criminal enterprise.
The NCA said the true impact of LockBit’s criminality was previously unknown, but data obtained from their systems showed that between June 2022 and February 2024, more than 7,000 attacks were built using their services. The top five countries hit were the US, UK, France, Germany and China.
Attacks targeted over 100 hospitals and healthcare companies and at least 2,110 victims were forced into in some degree of negotiation by cyber criminals.
The group has attempted to rebuild over the last two months, however the NCA said that as a result of their investigation, they are currently running at limited capacity and the global threat from LockBit has significantly reduced.
NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “These sanctions are hugely significant and show that there is no hiding place for cyber criminals like Dmitry Khoroshev, who wreak havoc across the globe. He was certain he could remain anonymous, but he was wrong."
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said: “Cyber criminals think they are untouchable, hiding behind anonymous accounts as they try to extort money from their victims.
“By exposing one of the leaders of LockBit, we are sending a clear message to these callous criminals. You cannot hide. You will face justice.”
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