German police have arrested a 28-year-old Russian man suspected of being a key figure in the Qilin ransomware gang. The suspect, identified by German media as Vladimir K, was detained in Japan in May while on holiday and extradited to Germany earlier this month. His arrest is tied to a September 2024 attack on a logistics firm that netted about $160,000 in cryptocurrency.
German investigators are now also examining his possible connection to the June 2024 ransomware attack on Synnovis, a blood-testing firm serving London hospitals. That attack crippled IT systems, caused a critical shortage of O-type blood, and delayed test results. A probe by King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust confirmed a patient died in part because of those delays. British police are reportedly considering whether their inquiry could support an unlawful killing charge.
Synnovis and the NHS trusts it serves did not pay a ransom. The case echoes a 2020 incident in Düsseldorf where a ransomware attack on a hospital was linked to a patient's death. Qilin, a ransomware-as-a-service group active since at least 2022, has reportedly hacked more than 4,000 organisations and extorted over $140 million. Its high-profile victims include Japanese brewer Asahi.