The issue of ransomware involving cryptocurrency payments is an issue that seems to plague many companies and government agencies, and often when these attacks occur, it will involve a Russian cryptocurrency exchange called Garantex.
This cryptocurrency exchange is seen as very popular with hacking groups because its headquarters are in Russia, and it is quite difficult to act against it due to its location.
Recently, in cooperation between the US Secret Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Europol, Dutch National Police, Bundeskriminalamt, Frankfurt General Prosecutor’s Office, Finnish National Bureau of Investigation and Estonian National Criminal Police, they have imposed restrictions and have seized the domain of the website.
If you visit the Garantex website, it now comes with a notice that the website has been blocked by these law enforcement agencies and is no longer accessible. Garantex has been previously sanctioned by the EU, particularly as it was seen working with Russian banks that were also sanctioned by the EU.
It is not yet known what happened to the cryptocurrency assets on the exchange, but it is expected that for now, the assets have also been frozen by the European Union.