Polish police have detained a 47-year-old man suspected of ties to the Phobos ransomware group and seized computer systems and cell phones containing stolen credentials, bank card numbers, and server entry knowledge.
Officers from Poland’s Central Bureau of Cybercrime Management (CBZC) arrested the suspect within the Małopolska area in a joint operation involving items from Katowice and Kielce. The motion is a part of “Operation Aether,” a broader worldwide effort coordinated by Europol and concentrating on Phobos ransomware infrastructure and associates.
Throughout a search of the suspect’s residence, investigators supervised by the District Prosecutor’s Workplace in Gliwice discovered information on his gadgets containing credentials, passwords, bank card numbers, and server IP addresses that might be used to realize unauthorized entry to laptop techniques and facilitate ransomware assaults.
Cops have additionally decided that the suspect had used encrypted messaging functions to speak with the Phobos cybercrime group.
“This knowledge might be used to hold out varied assaults, together with, amongst others, ransomware. After performing technical actions, it turned out that there was knowledge on them that might be used to interrupt digital safety,” the CBZC stated on Tuesday. “As well as, in line with data collected concerning the 47-year-old, utilizing encrypted messengers, he contacted the Phobos crime group identified for its ransomware assaults.”
The suspect now faces costs beneath Article 269b of Poland’s Prison Code for producing, buying, and distributing laptop applications designed to unlawfully get hold of data saved in IT techniques (hacking instruments), and faces a most jail sentence of 5 years if discovered responsible.
Operation Aether concentrating on Phobos
Phobos is a long-running ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation (derived from the Crysis ransomware household) that, regardless of receiving much less media consideration than different ransomware teams, has been liable for many assaults on companies worldwide and is taken into account some of the extensively distributed ransomware operations.
Between Could 2024 and November 2024, Phobos ransomware accounted for about 11% of all submissions to the ID Ransomware service. The U.S. Justice Division has additionally beforehand linked this ransomware gang to breaches at greater than 1,000 private and non-private entities worldwide, with ransom funds totaling greater than $16 million.
Operation Aether has focused Phobos-linked people at a number of ranges of the operation, together with backend infrastructure operators and associates concerned in community intrusions and knowledge encryption.
As an illustration, a key end result of this international police operation was the extradition of the alleged Phobos administrator to america in November 2024, and a large disruption in February 2025, when police seized 27 servers and arrested two suspected associates in Phuket, Thailand.
One other key Phobos affiliate was arrested in Italy in 2023, additional weakening the cybercriminal community behind the ransomware group.
“On account of this operation, legislation enforcement was additionally in a position to warn greater than 400 firms worldwide of ongoing or imminent ransomware assaults,” Europol stated in February 2025. “This complicated worldwide operation, supported by Europol and Eurojust, concerned legislation enforcement companies from 14 international locations. Whereas some international locations targeted on the investigation into Phobos, others focused 8Base, with a number of taking part in each.”
In July 2025, the Japanese police additionally launched a Phobos and 8-Base ransomware decryptor that enables victims to get better their information free of charge.
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