The United Kingdom and United States on Thursday sanctioned seven people connected to what officials have told The Record is a single network behind the Conti and Ryuk ransomware gangs as well as the Trickbot banking trojan. The sanctions are described as the first major move of a “new campaign of concerted action” between Britain and the United States, and insiders say that further actions should be expected later this year.

More than 200 local governments, schools and hospitals in the U.S. were affected by ransomware in 2022, according to research conducted by cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. The annual “State of Ransomware in the US” report found that 105 local governments; 44 universities and colleges; 45 school districts; and 25 healthcare providers operating 290 hospitals dealt with ransomware attacks last year.

Public schools in two Michigan counties are reopening on Thursday after a ransomware attack crippled their ability to function and closed doors to students for three days. All of the public schools in Jackson and Hillsdale counties announced their reopening on Thursday in letters to parents, assuring them that cybersecurity experts, tech officials and law enforcement worked around the clock to restore the systems following outages that began on Monday.

Microsoft tied hackers with the Vice Society ransomware gang to several ransomware strains on Tuesday, noting that the group has been behind a wave of attacks on primary schools and colleges across the world.

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Editor’s Note: Last April, a ransomware group threatened to expose police informants and other sensitive information if the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not pay a demand. The brazen attack was the work of a gang known as Babuk, which in early 2021 gained a reputation for posting stolen databases on its website from victims that refused to pay a ransom. Just days after it tried to extort the Metropolitan Police Department, Babuk announced it was closing its ransomware affiliate program, and would focus on data theft and extortion instead.

Editor’s Note: Last April, a ransomware group threatened to expose police informants and other sensitive information if the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department did not pay a demand. The brazen attack was the work of a gang known as Babuk, which in early 2021 gained a reputation for posting stolen databases on its website from victims that refused to pay a ransom. Just days after it tried to extort the Metropolitan Police Department, Babuk announced it was closing its ransomware affiliate program, and would focus on data theft and extortion instead.