Holiday Ayo - Some of the world's most dangerous ransomware gangs have suddenly announced their "early retirement" from the world of cybercrime.

In an open letter posted on the dark forum BreachForums, these hacker groups claimed they would cease operations after years of launching attacks on various global companies and institutions.

The announcement stated that they had achieved their "targets" and would enjoy the spoils they had accumulated.

They also emphasized that any attacks attributed to them after this were likely carried out before the official announcement.

"We will enjoy our golden parachutes with the millions we have accumulated," the statement read, as quoted by Techspot on Wednesday (September 17).

The post listed more than a dozen well-known cyber gangs, including Scattered Spider, Lapsus$, IntelBroker, Trihash, Yurosh, WyTroZz, Pertinax, and Yukari.

These groups are known for their adeptness in exploiting multi-factor authentication vulnerabilities and social engineering techniques.

Their attacks previously crippled Jaguar Land Rover with ransomware and also affected British retailer Marks & Spencer.

While surprising, many cybersecurity experts doubt this announcement. They believe it could simply be a rebranding strategy to escape pressure from law enforcement.

In recent years, authorities have successfully arrested members of ransomware gangs, including the notorious IntelBroker figure who was arrested in France.

He was identified as Kai Logan West after investigators successfully tracked the Bitcoin wallet associated with his official identity, a fatal mistake that landed him behind bars.

Experts believe that even though the gang claims to be disbanding, it is highly likely to reappear under a new name or alias.

This practice is often used by cybercrime groups to evade ongoing investigations.

For now, this announcement can be considered a rare break in the global cybercrime landscape.

However, whether this is truly a retirement or simply a change of face will only be determined by ransomware attack trends in the coming months.