Royal Dutch Football Association claimed as LockBit victim

The infamous LockBit ransomware gang claims to have breached the Royal Dutch Football Association and threatens to expose private data.

On April 14, the LockBit ransomware gang posted a notice on their dark web blog, suggesting that the Royal Dutch Association (KNVB) was breached. The gang claims to have access to 305GB of data, and threatens to make it public if the Association fails to pay ransomware by April 26.

KNVB is the governing body of football in the Netherlands, which is responsible for managing various Dutch football leagues, including both professional and amateur leagues, as well as overseeing the KNVB Cup and the Dutch men's and women's national teams.

Cybernews contacted KNVB to verify the claims of the alleged ransomware attack. KNVB said it had experienced a cyberattack, resulting in the personal data of KNVB employees having been obtained by cybercriminals. Association has started an investigation to determine the impact of the attack.

A long list of victims

KNVB will join a long list of LockBit’s victims. In 2022, LockBit stood out as the most prominent ransomware gang in the cybercriminal industry. According to data from DarkFeed, the deep-web monitoring platform, LockBit has targeted nearly 1,500 victims.

In February, the gang made headlines for striking UK postal service Royal Mail. Leaked conversations with the gang revealed that the company resisted pressure to give in to cybercriminals, describing the ransom demands “absurd.” In March, the gang attacked the city services of Oakland, California.

LockBit has been associated with other notable ransomware cartels with links to Russia, including Conti and its successor Black Basta, and DarkSide and its descendants BlackMatter and BlackCat/ALPHV.