Security News > 2024 > February > Authorities dismantled LockBit before it could unleash revamped variant

Law enforcement's disruption of the LockBit ransomware crew comes as the criminal group was working on bringing a brand-new variant to market, research reveals.

As part of the daily LockBit leaks this week, Trend Micro's report on the group, published today, analyzed a cross-platform version researchers believe was being designed to succeed the most recent LockBit 3.0 iteration.

Unlike rivals ALPHV/BlackCat and others in the space, LockBit didn't opt for one of the trendier memory-safe languages like Rust for its latest locker.

The in-development variant showed signs of LockBit trying to counter this with a new expiry date.

The latest variant is by no means considered the finished article, and although authorities did a comprehensive job dismantling LockBit, its leaders may likely continue to operate.

Trend Micro's researchers believe this new variant could have formed the basis of what would have been LockBit 4.0, so it's not a stretch to assume it may be used by another gang in years or even months to come.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/02/22/lockbit_dismantled_new_variant/