Ransomware gang REvil's websites become unreachable

(Reuters) — Websites run by the ransomware gang REvil suddenly became unreachable Tuesday.

Ransomware gang websites can be unreliable, and it was unclear whether the site's disappearance was a momentary fluke or whether the hackers had been taken offline.

Vanishing acts are common in the ransomware world, where gangs tend to disappear and rebrand when they begin attracting too much heat.

Both the group's payment portal and its blog, which named and shamed their victims who refused to pay, were unreachable Tuesday.

REvil — a Russia-linked cybercrime ring that in recent weeks claimed responsibility for a sprawling ransomware outbreak that affected an estimated 800 to 1,500 businesses worldwide — was already drawing top-level U.S. government attention.

President Joe Biden hinted Friday the United States could take more aggressive action soon where ransomware was concerned.

Asked by a Reuters correspondent Friday whether it would make sense to attack the Russian servers used in such intrusions, Biden paused, smiled and said: “Yes.”