According to a report by ABC News, Britain’s National Crime Agency (“NCA”), working in close cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) and an international law enforcement task force known as “Operation Cronos,” has infiltrated and disrupted Lockbit – a prolific ransomware syndicate behind cyberattacks around the world.
A NCA representative said that the agency led the operation targeting Lockbit, which provides ransomware as a service to so-called affiliates who infect victims’ networks with computer-crippling malware and then seek to negotiate ransoms. The group has been linked to thousands of attacks since 2019.
Lockbit is dominated by Russian speakers and does not attack former Soviet nations. The syndicate provides its clients with the platform and the malware to conduct attacks and collect ransoms, including attacks on the U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
The ABC News report may be read in full HERE.
My brothers and sisters, many points can be drawn from this situation.
It shows that despite the darling of the ‘Information Age’ – computers – a means to assure security will never fully exist so long as the hearts of men and women are afflicted with evil.
It also reveals a connection to Russia, with the attacks reportedly not being aimed at networks from within former Soviet Union countries. The evidence that Russia – and not the least of which is its ongoing attack against the nation of Ukraine – is led by a former KGB operative and evil man, President Vladimir Putin, is clear. Despite this, it seems that the mainstream press minimizes the threats posed by Putin.
Even many U.S. citizens and governmental leaders have decided that Putin should be, essentially, ignored because of disfunction within U.S. politics and in particular, the conflating of U.S. border issues with the pending destruction of a free country (read: Ukraine), the murder of its citizens, and the ill-advised threat to use nuclear weapons against Western nations.
This writer is thankful to God for law enforcement agencies with the integrity and know-how to even perform such complicated cyber-based investigations. When mankind behaves wisely, it is because we have listened to the wisdom of God, not simply our souls (i.e., our minds, wills and emotions). So, let’s pray for the continued destruction of evil in the cyber world and for God’s wisdom to prevail in our lives and in all lands and peoples. The Answer to our worldly problems – namely the condition of our hearts – has always been, is, and will always be, JESUS! Amen.
The bible has something to say about our hearts:
Proverbs 12:20 (NKJV)
“Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, [b]ut counselors of peace have joy.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV)
“The heart is deceitful above all things, [a]nd desperately wicked; [w]ho can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, [e]ven to give every man according to his ways, [a]ccording to the fruit of his doings.”
The good news is that He is for us, and will lead us, if we trust in Jesus:
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, [a]nd lean not on your own understanding; [i]n all your ways acknowledge Him, [a]nd He shall direct your paths.”
If we, however, trust the ways of the world first or more than we trust God, trouble will abound:
1 Corinthians 3:19 (NLT)
“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, ‘He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.’”
And yet again, in God’s goodness, He makes a way for us:
James 1:5 (NKJV)
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Praise Jesus forevermore!
