Japan Hands over ‘Qilin’ Hacker Group Member to Germany
German authorities sought the 28-year-old suspect after he allegedly extorted crypto assets from a logistics firm in 2024, investigators said.
- On Tuesday, Japan handed over a detained Russian national to German authorities, identifying him as a key member of the international ransomware group "Qilin."
- German authorities requested the suspect's detention after he allegedly extorted crypto assets from a German logistics firm in 2024, prompting Japanese authorities to locate and detain him.
- The National Police Agency reported that Qilin was suspected in 32 of 149 ransomware-linked cases confirmed in Japan in 2025, with the group causing major damage through data encryption.
- In 2025, the group claimed responsibility for a system outage at Asahi Group Holdings Ltd, an attack involving blocked data access and demands for payment to restore it.
- Ransomware threats persist as the National Police Agency confirmed 123 ransomware attacks in the first half of 2026, marking a new half-year record high for Japan.
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48 Articles
<p>Germany has extradited from Japan a Russian hacker accused of working for the largest ransomware group, a 28-year-old Russian suspected of working for the Qilin group. He was detained in Japan under an international warrant after an investigation in Germany.</p>
The Russian hacker group "Qilin" is said to have extorted thousands of companies worldwide and collected more than 140 million dollars of ransom. Investigators from North Rhine-Westphalia infiltrate the group for months - now a suspected head of the gang goes into the net. The arrest takes place in Tokyo.
In Germany, a 28-year-old Russian citizen who was "one of the leaders" of the hacker group Qilin was extradited from Japan, and according to the German authorities, 152 companies were victims in the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Russian hacker group Qilin has attacked thousands of companies worldwide and blackmailed them with perfidious means. Now one of the heads is behind bars.
North Rhine-Westphalia's investigators have succeeded in striking against the worldwide active Russian hacker group "Qilin".
The Russian group Qilin is considered one of the most aggressive hacker networks in the world. Investigators had observed them in Japan – and arrested a member for the first time.
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