In yesteryear there was a time when all men had to go to war. They did not understand why they had to go to war apart from they were tricked into believing that they were saving their country.

They had the opportunity to become heroes and would be worshipped by their country for the rest of their lives.

They would be treated like kings and want for nothing. The reality was, they were more likely to be sent to their deaths.

And for some, that was better than when they came back injured and broken.

They were not treated as heroes or kings as they were promised. But they were abandoned and rejected.

They were looked upon disdainfully for the atrocities they were made to cause in another part of the world.

They had killed innocent citizens. Apparently, they had murdered women and children.

No, they did not get what they were promised. They were indeed just pawns for a rich man’s game of power and wealth.

Indeed, in some instances, they were sent to fight and die for many years in a foreign country and then in a blink of an eye, everything went back to as it was as if it had never happened.

Leaving behind death, destruction and trauma. The rich and powerful men had finished their game of truth and dare.

Maybe they had won or maybe they had lost. But all wars could have been prevented by the swift death of a single man.

For it is a single man that begins the path of war. It is his own ego and shadow monster that fights within him.

It is by losing the battle within himself that causes external war and destruction and a low vibration of energy that spreads throughout the world.

It is a single man that causes immense pain and suffering because another man or women will not stand up to him and give him love.

It is for when he operates from this lack of love, that hate and anger wins the day and the rest creates a terrible history for mankind.

We choose to be inspired by the wrong humans who are coming from an impure place.

They are coming from a place of pain and suffering in their own life which they wish to project on to others.

This is why it is so important to be aware of your own vibration of energy in this moment right now.

For when you are in a low vibration, you create nothing but pain and misery.

When you are in a high vibration and fueled by love then you create magic all around you.

You create happiness and joy and success and fulfilment. You all have a choice in any moment how you react to life around you.

How you react to curved balls thrown your way. And above all, it is you who needs to take responsibility for your own actions and reactions.

It is also important to see the consequences of not taking any action at all.

And when one man or women is allowed to be ruled by their shadow monster and no one around them does nothing to help or does not change that person’s vibration by sending them love.

Then a war begins and the consequences are far reaching and devastating also because one simple action was not taken in the beginning.

Imagine in this moment right now, what small action you are not taking in your own life and what far reaching consequences this is likely to cause for you and others around you.

Everything is a choice and sometimes it takes sacrifice in keep the peace and to create love in a world that can be turned so quickly and easily to a dark place.

Love and hate are on a knife edge, either can win at any moment. It takes will and your own power to choose which shall win in the moment.

In what suspiciously looks like a political statement, Vladimir Putin has ordered the arrest of 14 members of the infamous gang, REvil. With tension and talks not currently being fruitful between Russia, NATO and the US about Ukraine, it seems this was a bit of a gift from Putin to the US Government. Tensions between Ukraine and Russia are at their highest in years, with a Russian troop build-up near the border with Ukraine, indicating, come kind of military invasion could be imminent. US intelligence findings have estimated that Russia could begin a military offensive in Ukraine “as soon as early 2022.”

On Friday the 14th of January 2022, officials from FSB and the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs seized computer equipment, 20 luxury cars, and more than $5.5 million in rubles and cryptocurrency. They also seized control of cryptocurrency wallets used by the REvil gang and recouped nearly $1.2 million in foreign cash.

The arrests took place in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Lipetsk region south of the Russian capital.

For many years, the infamous REvil criminal gang has attacked numerous high profile targets ruthlessly. In May 2021, the criminals, along with its affiliates, disrupted production at meat supplier JBS. In the process, they managed to secure a $11 million ransom payment. Then in July, it incapacitated thousands of businesses as it exploited a vulnerability in the update mechanism of IT software services company Kaseya. With REvil being based in the seemingly safe haven of Russia, their attacks have largely gone unpunished. It would appear that Ukraine conflict is a bigger issue than ransomware so they gang have been sacrificed by Russia as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

Reports from Russia, claim the FSB took action following requests from the United States. Back in August president Joe Biden told Vladimir Putin that he must take action against cybercriminals operating in Russia. Considering the many pleas from countries all over the world which have been made to Russia to stop their numerous hacking gangs, it seems unlikely that Putin suddenly decided to comply without an ulterior motive being in play.

Law enforcement agencies around the world, including in Ukraine, have increasingly been working together in efforts to tackle ransomware hackers. Since February 2021, Europol has arrested five hackers linked to REvil and says 17 countries have been working on its investigations. These include the US, UK, France, Germany, and Australia. This includes 22-year-old Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi who was arrested in Poland and accused of conducting the Kaseya attack. Yevgeniy Polyanin, a 28-year-old Russian national, was also charged with deploying REvil’s ransomware. Polyanin is accused of conducting some 3,000 ransomware attacks and had $6.1 million of his assets seized in the process.

For now, several ransomware groups operating out of Russia remain highly active. The REvil takedown is a significant mark of progress, but it will be interesting to see if Vladimir Putin decides to pursue the other gangs as well, like the notorious DarkSide gang and its successor BlackMatter.

WHO IS REVIL?

REvil (aka Sodinokibi) is a ransomware variant first detected in April 2019. Initial attacks focused on users in Asia, but REvil’s attacks have expanded to target entities globally, with increasingly more significant extortion demands with one of the most recent being $70M for Kaseya. Since then, the variant has been actively used in ransomware attacks targeting organizations worldwide across various sectors, including healthcare, legal services, technology, government, retail, and financial services.

Timeline of some REvil attacks:

Aug 2019: Vendor breached to spread ransomware to 22 Texas cities
Jan 2020: REvil release stolen victim data on forum threads, later replaced by the “Happy Blog” website, if the ransom was not paid.
April 2020: Widespread exploitation of COVID-19 pandemic to spread ransomware
May 2020: Purported breach and sale of Trump-related information, as well as multiple celebrities over the following months, likely resulting from breach of the GSMS law firm
Jun 2020: Researchers discovered the variant scanning for point-of-sale (PoS) software and leveraging Cobalt Strike to deliver the ransomware. REvil adds an auction page to “Happy Blog.”
Mar 2021: Harris Federation breach, which leads to shutdown of the network for weeks, breach of hardware and electronics manufacturer Acer
Apr 2021: Offered Apple schematics and other company data for sale after breaching hardware vendor Quanta
May 2021: Attack on JBS, which forced a shutdown of US beef plant operations and disrupted operations at poultry and pork plants
Jun 2021: Attack on Invenergy
Jul 2021: Attacks on US DoD contractor HX5 and Kaseya MSP

Further reading

New EU data regulations 5 things your business needs to do

Recent events over the past couple of years, in particular the Snowden affair, have had a huge influence on privacy and our personal data. The European Union is set to dramatically change the regulations which govern what businesses can do with personal data and what rights you have to protect it.

Click here to read more