Alleged REvil Leader ‘UNKN’ Identified by German Authorities in New Takedown Effort

German authorities have identified 31-year-old Daniil Maksimovich Shchukin as the hacker alias “UNKN,” alleged leader of the GandCrab and REvil ransomware operations; the groups ran Ransomware-as-a-Service, popularized double-extortion, extorted millions (GandCrab claimed over $2B historically) and caused tens of millions in damage in Germany, and were behind high-impact incidents including the July 2021 Kaseya supply-chain attack that impacted around 1,500 businesses; law enforcement has seized linked cryptocurrency but extradition is unlikely.