Three of the most notorious ransomware-as-a-service operations have formed a criminal cartel aimed at coordinating attacks and sharing resources in what they describe as an increasingly “challenging” ransomware business environment.
DragonForce, Qilin, and LockBit announced the partnership in early September, with DragonForce proposing the collaboration shortly after LockBit reemerged with its LockBit 5.0 ransomware variant, according to a ReliaQuest report.
“Create equal competition conditions, no conflicts and no public insults,” DragonForce wrote in a post on dark web forums, translated from Russian. “ This way we can all increase our income and dictate market conditions. Call it whatever you like – coalition, cartel, etc. The main thing is to stay in touch, be friendly to each other, and be strong allies, not enemies.”
