Lockbit was discovered in 2020 when its eponymous malicious software was found on Russian-language cybercrime forums, leading some security analysts to believe the gang is based in Russia. The gang has not professed support for any government, however, nor has any government formally attributed it to a nation-state. "We are located in the Netherlands, completely apolitical and only interested in money," the gang says on its dark web blog. The cybercrime gang infects a victim organisation's system with ransomware - malicious software that encrypts data - and then coerces targets into paying ransom to decrypt or unlock it. On the dark web, Lockbit's blog displays an ever-growing gallery of victim organisations that is updated nearly daily.

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Persons: Lockbit, cybercriminals, Zeba Siddiqui, James Pearson, Rod Nickel Organizations: FRANCISCO, LONDON, Commercial Bank of China, Boeing, ION, Thomson Locations: Russia, Netherlands, United States, ICBC's U.S, San Francisco, London