The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has announced the recovery of over 7,000 decryption keys associated with the notorious LockBit ransomware gang.

LockBit has been a dominant force in the ransomware landscape, targeting businesses, governments, and individuals worldwide. The group’s modus operandi involves encrypting victims’ files and demanding a ransom payment in cryptocurrency in exchange for the decryption keys. This has caused significant financial losses and operational disruptions for countless organizations.

“From our ongoing disruption of LockBit, we now have over 7,000 decryption keys and can help victims reclaim their data and get back online,” the FBI Cyber Lead said in a keynote.

“We are reaching out to known LockBit victims and encouraging anyone who suspects they were a victim to visit our Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.”

A Call to Action for Victims

The FBI is urging all victims of LockBit ransomware to come forward and contact their local field office. By providing information about their attack and submitting encrypted files, victims may be able to determine if their data can be unlocked using the recovered keys. This could potentially save them from having to pay the ransom demanded by the criminals.

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While the recovery of these keys is a positive development, it’s important to note that not all LockBit victims may be able to benefit. The keys are specific to certain versions of the ransomware, and some files may have been encrypted using different methods or keys that are not yet available.

However, it is still crucial for all victims to reach out to the FBI, as their information can help in ongoing investigations and potentially lead to the recovery of more keys in the future.