Lockbit Excessor Group, the criminal organization behind the recent hacking of Olympia Community Unit 16 school district systems, has issued an apology for their actions. The group has also expressed shame for the attack and pledged to provide a free decoder to any victims who contact them through their Darknet identifier.
This apology comes as a surprise to many, but it is not the first of its kind from Lockbit. In January, the group provided a free decoder and apologized to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the largest pediatric medical center in Canada. The attack occurred on December 18, and while it disrupted some of the hospital’s systems, it did not stop patient care.
Lockbit 3.0 is known for using a tactic called triple extortion. This method involves stealing data, encrypting files, and demanding a ransom in exchange for not disclosing the stolen data in the darknet or informing the victim’s competitors, customers, and partners of the attack. When this tactic fails, the malicious tool turns into a data removal program, referred to as “viper.”