The American Department of Justice announced the arrest of two Russians suspected of participating in cyber attacks, aimed at forcing high ransom. On the same day, the USA, Great Britain and Australia introduced new sanctions for cybercrime organization from Russia.
33-year-old Roman Bierieżnoj and 39-year-old Jegor Gliebow were detained in connection with suspicions of using Phobos, malware “ransomware”, to force ransom from over 1000 institutions, both private and public. Among them are, among others medical and educational centers. In total, hackers have extorted over $ 16 million in this way – the Reuters agency informed.
“Ransomware” is a software that blocks access to the computer system or prevents the reading of the data saved in it, and then demands from the victim a ransom for restoring the original state. They earn money, forcing their victims to pay a ransom for deciphering or unlocking this data using a digital key.
Two Russian cyberhackers were arrestedShutterstock
New sanctions for cybercrime organization from Russia
Also on Tuesday, the USA, Australia and Great Britain covered the sanctions of the Russian Hosting Service Supplier of ZSERVERS and two Russian citizens for supporting the activities of the Lockbit cybercriminal organization.
“ZSERVERS provided cybercriminals with access to specialized computer servers and infrastructure, designed to get out of law enforcement agencies,” the US Department of State Department of State justified the decision in a statement.
In February 2024, the British National Agency for Crime (NCA) and the American Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) announced that during an international operation they took control of the Lockbit website, through which the group operated.
The group has attempted to rebuild in recent months, but NCA estimates that as a result of the operation of it together with the FBI, Lockbit is currently working with limited performance, and its global threat has significantly decreased.
Source of the main photo: Shutterstock