The arrest is part of an international operation involving nine countries that dismantled KillSec by seizing five servers and at least 110 TB of stolen data. Authorities previously detained the group's suspected administrator, a 16-year-old in Spain, and investigated approximately 1,000 cyberattacks, with 500 confirmed as successful. KillSec reportedly targeted sensitive data by exploiting insecure access points in cloud storage.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
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Dutch Startup CEO Arrested in Manchester for KillSec Ransomware
Cybersecurity19 days ago
US prosecutors have named Fouad E., a 25-year-old Dutch national, as the "Archduke" who coordinated ransom payments for a worldwide hacking group. A startup CEO who specialized in AI-driven "digital transformation" for firms in Oman and the Gulf, he was arrested in Manchester and now faces up to 10 years in prison if extradited to Puerto Rico. Prosecutors allege he contacted victims via telephone as the official representative for the group known as KillSec.
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