FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation” and alleged politicization of law enforcement, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 12, 2023.Jonathan Ernst | ReutersThe mastermind behind a ransomware hosting service that allegedly helped criminals collect more than 5,000 bitcoin in ransom from hundreds of victims was indicted in federal court this week, prosecutors announced Thursday. At current prices, that bitcoin would be worth more than $146 million.Artur Grabowski’s LolekHosted service operated for about a decade and advertised itself as a haven for “everything but child porn,” according to Florida prosecutors. Clients allegedly used the hosting service to deploy ransomware viruses that infected around 400 networks around the world. Ransomware attacks typically lock and encrypt the data on an organization’s computers so they’re unusable until the victim pays a fee. Grabowski and his co-conspirators allegedly refused to cooperate with law enforcement requests, protected allegedly criminal actors from takedowns, and profited immensely from the service.Grabowski was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy …
