The Point: Germany’s BKA has identified hacker "UNKN" as Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin – the leader of ransomware gangs REvil and GandCrab. Together with an accomplice, the 31-year-old is believed to have conducted at least 130 cyberattacks in Germany and stolen nearly two million euros.
Germany’s federal police have unmasked the mysterious hacker "UNKN" as Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin. The 31-year-old Russian is believed to have led ransomware groups GandCrab and REvil, carrying out at least 130 cyberattacks with extortion in Germany between 2013 and 2021.
German authorities have dismantled one of the world’s largest ransomware operations. Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin, a 31-year-old Russian citizen, has been identified as the head of criminal hacker groups GandCrab and REvil. Together with Anatoly Sergeevitsch Kravchuk, a 43-year-old fellow Russian, he is believed to have stolen nearly two million euros through at least two dozen cyberattacks and caused a total of over 22 million euros in economic damage.
Shchukin was known under the alias “UNKN” and is described by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) as the leader of one of the world’s largest ransomware operations. The gang was known for pioneering the double extortion tactic: they first demanded ransom for a decryption key and then a second payment to prevent the publication of stolen data.
GandCrab launched in January 2018 as a ransomware affiliate program and offered hackers generous profit-sharing for compromising accounts at large corporations. The group then gained access to confidential and internal documents, which they exfiltrated in large quantities.
Shchukin’s name first appeared in a February 2023 court filing by the U.S. Department of Justice seeking the seizure of multiple cryptocurrency wallets associated with REvil proceeds. According to the filing, the digital wallet attributed to Shchukin contained over 26,000 dollars in illegal cryptocurrency.