World's biggest ransomware gang, REvil, vanishes from internet

Among the world's most infamous ransomware gangs, REvil suddenly disappeared from the internet July 13, according to an MIT Technology Review report.

REvil disappeared from the internet the day before President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are scheduled to meet and discuss ransomware concerns.

Almost half (42 percent) of ransomware attacks trace back to this gang, MIT reported. REvil has been attributed to high-profile attacks such as those on Las Vegas-based University Medical Center, meat supplier JBS and software firm Kaseya.

There are several potential reasons the cybergang has disappeared, MIT wrote:

1. They have chosen to retire from all the unwanted publicity, fearing they would end up taken down like other high-profile predecessors. 
2. The United States could have taken them down, as they did NetWalker and DarkSide.
3. The Russian government forced them to shut down because of international pressure.
4. The hacker group is pretending to retire, like GandCrab did before reemersing as REvil, but will reappear with new identities.

Although this is good news, Ekram Ahmed, a spokesperson from security vendor Check Point Software told Becker's not to "[jump] to any immediate conclusions as it's early, but REvil is, indeed, one of the most ruthless and creative ransomware gangs we've ever seen."