A hacking group threatens to release documents related to the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump unless a ransom is paid.
The group, led by LockBitSupp, had set deadlines for payment, with no release of documents reported so far.
The FBI and UK’s National Crime Agency raided the group on Feb. 20, taking down 34 servers.
The Department of Justice indicted two Russians for hacking, involving over 2,000 cases and $120 million in ransomware payments.
“For years, LockBit associates have deployed these kinds of attacks again and again across the United States and around the world. Today, U.S. and U.K. law enforcement are taking away the keys to their criminal operation,” Attorney General Merrick Garland stated.
“And we are going a step further — we have also obtained keys from the seized LockBit infrastructure to help victims decrypt their captured systems and regain access to their data. LockBit is not the first ransomware variant the Justice Department and its international partners have dismantled. It will not be the last,” Garland said.
The group claims it was targeted due to its knowledge of cases against Trump in Georgia.
They expressed intent to target government sectors to expose vulnerabilities.
“The FBI decided to hack now for one reason only, because they didn’t want to leak information from https://fultoncountyga.gov/ the stolen documents contain a lot of interesting things and Donald Trump’s court cases that could affect the upcoming US election,” the group stated.
“Personally I will vote for Trump because the situation on the border with Mexico is some kind of nightmare, Biden should retire, he is a puppet,” the statement added.
“If it wasn’t for the FBI attack, the documents would have been released the same day, because the negotiations stalled,” the statement said.
“I need to attack the .gov sector more often and more, it is after such attacks that the FBI will be forced to show me weaknesses and vulnerabilities and make me stronger,” the statement said.
Fulton County has a plan to address any potential leak of private information.
