A collective of 15 ransomware gangs including Scattered Spider, IntelBroker and Lapsus$ have announced a mass retirement from their nefarious activities. They claim their “objectives” have been fulfilled, so it’s time to enjoy their “millions” in “silence”.

As spotted by El Reg, the collective posted a message on Breachforums announcing their supposed retirement. “Silence will now be our strength,” the statement said, “we [] have decided to go dark”.

As for what’s next, the statement says the some among the collective (apparently the most “stupid”) will enjoy their “golden parachutes with the millions the group accumulated,” while others, “will keep on studying and improving systems you use in your daily lifes. In silence.”

The group points out that further attacks may be attributed to them, but these were masterminded and carried out before the retirement decision.

The group claims that efforts by law enforcement to track them down will be futile, while implying that the arrests already made of some members of their gangs in France were all part of a master plan.

“We have ensured that the investigations targeting them will progressively fall apart, and that their mild vanity peccati will not inflict on them, long term consequences,” the statement claims.

Of course, as The Register points out, “cybercrime gangs often try to evade law enforcement by abandoning their handles, then changing tactics and operating under new names.” The assumption is that whoever runs these gangs will pop up soon enough.

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