Ransomware gang Hunters International says it’s shutting down its operations for unexplained reasons, and is offering decryption keys to victim organizations.
The offer of decryption keys could be good news for CISOs whose data were recently scrambled and who can’t find a way to decrypt the files. However, judging from the history of ransomware gangs that have shut down before, Hunters International’s members will likely reconstitute with the heart of their code and begin anew in one or more groups.
“Whether their offer [of free decryption keys] is true or not is anyone’s guess at this point,” threat analyst Luke Connolly of Emsisoft, who has seen the Hunters announcement, told CSO. “Keep in mind that they are criminals, and ransomware groups are notorious for making false claims in support of their own objectives.”
