Japan detains a suspected Qilin ransomware member on vacation and extradites him to Germany

Japan's National Police Agency has confirmed that it arrested a Russian national accused of involvement in the Qilin ransomware operation and extradited him to Germany, where he has been arrested. German authorities had issued a warrant for the 28-year-old, who has not been named, over a ransomware attack on a German company. Japan's Ministry of Justice and the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office obtained a provisional detention warrant after he arrived in Japan as a tourist. The Record, citing Nippon, reports that he was arrested at a hotel in Osaka. BleepingComputer describes him as a suspected leading member of the group. Qilin is a ransomware-as-a-service operation that emerged in August 2022 under the name Agenda. It uses double extortion, stealing data before encrypting it. BleepingComputer reports that it has targeted more than 2,350 known organizations in 62 countries. Its victims include Nissan and the brewer Asahi, which spent weeks recovering from an attack that disrupted orders and shipping. The group also claimed an April attack on the German party Die Linke. German law enforcement did not respond to The Record's request for comment.