The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced charges against a dual Russian and Canadian national for his alleged participation in LockBit ransomware attacks across the world.
The 33-year-old Ontario resident, Mikhail Vasiliev, has been taken into custody and is awaiting extradition to the U.S., where is likely to be sentenced for a maximum of five years in prison.
Vasiliev has been charged with conspiracy to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands, according to a criminal complaint filed in the District of New Jersey.
A search of the defendant’s home in August and October 2022 by Canadian law enforcement unearthed a file stored on a device containing what’s suspected to be a list of “prospective or historical” victims as well as screenshots of communications exchanged with “LockBitSupp” on the Tox messaging platform.
Also found were a text file with instructions to deploy LockBit ransomware, the malware’s source code, and a website that’s believed to be the control panel operated by the group to administer the ransomware.
images from Hacker News
Recent Comments