gandcrab

GandCrab was a prolific ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation that emerged in January 2018 and became one of the most widespread ransomware families before its operators announced retirement in May 2019, claiming to have earned over $2 billion in ransom payments. The group operated primarily for financial gain, recruiting affiliates through underground forums to distribute their ransomware in exchange for a percentage of ransom payments. GandCrab was believed to be operated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals, with the group explicitly avoiding targeting systems in Russia and former Soviet states, and operated as a sophisticated RaaS model providing affiliates with customized ransomware builds, payment portals, and technical support. The ransomware typically gained initial access through exploit kits, phishing campaigns, and remote desktop protocol attacks, employed strong encryption algorithms, and evolved to include data exfiltration capabilities in later versions, threatening to publish stolen data if ransom demands were not met. During its active period, GandCrab infected hundreds of thousands of systems worldwide across multiple sectors including healthcare, government, and education, with notable campaigns targeting managed service providers to achieve widespread lateral movement, though the group faced multiple law enforcement disruptions including a collaboration between Romanian police, Europol, and security researchers that resulted in the release of decryption tools for earlier variants. The GandCrab operators officially announced their retirement in May 2019, claiming financial success, though security researchers have identified potential connections between former GandCrab affiliates and subsequent ransomware operations including REvil/Sodinokibi.