Germany doxxes Conti ransomware and TrickBot ring leader

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) claims that Stern, the leader of the Trickbot and Conti cybercrime gangs, is a 36-year-old Russian named Vitaly Nikolaevich Kovalev. "The subject is suspected of having been the founder of the 'Trickbot' group, also known as 'Wizard Spider,'" BKA said last week [English PDF], after another round of seizures and charges part of Operation Endgame, a joint global law enforcement action targeting malware infrastructure and the threat actors behind it. "The group used the Trickbot malware as well as other malware variants such as Bazarloader, SystemBC, IcedID, Ryuk, Conti and Diavol." Kovalev is now also wanted in Germany, according to a recently issued Interpol red notice saying he was charged with being the ringleader of an unnamed criminal organization. However, this isn't the first time law enforcement has targeted Kovalev for his involvement in a cybercriminal organization. In February 2023, he was one of seve ... Read full article.