A 20-year-old Russian hacker was a part of a marketing campaign that labored to extort tens of tens of millions of {dollars} from greater than 1,400 victims, federal prosecutors stated Thursday.
Ruslan Astamirov, a citizen of the Russian-controlled Chechen Republic, was arrested by federal regulation enforcement at an unspecified date and faces fees of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and ransoming, New Jersey federal prosecutors stated.
Astamirov allegedly deployed ransomware referred to as LockBit to steal delicate information from the servers of companies, then lock these programs and demand fee of tons of of 1000’s of {dollars}. If the victims did not pay, Astarimov allegedly threatened to launch the information.
The DOJ says Astamirov was instantly accountable for 5 totally different assaults towards U.S. companies in Florida and Virginia, in addition to worldwide companies based mostly in France, Japan, and Kenya. At the least one of many victims paid $700,000, the criticism says. One other sufferer refused to pay, and Astamirov uploaded its information to LockBit’s public server, in keeping with the criticism.
LockBit-powered assaults account for 16% of ransomware assaults towards state and native governments, in keeping with the Division of Homeland Safety.
“In securing the arrest of a second Russian nationwide affiliated with the LockBit ransomware, the Division has as soon as once more demonstrated the lengthy arm of the regulation. We are going to proceed to make use of each software at our disposal to disrupt cybercrime, and whereas cybercriminals could proceed to run, they in the end can’t disguise,” deputy legal professional basic Lisa Monaco stated.
LockBit was first recognized in January 2020 on Russian-language cybercrime boards. It is a part of a category of hacking strategies and applied sciences dubbed ransomware-as-a-service.
A technical staff builders exploits and maintains software program to penetrate company or particular person computer systems; end-users purchase the software program and deploy it towards company networks. The tip-users pay both a charge or a share of their earnings to the technical group behind LockBit.
Astamirov will face a federal decide Thursday, prosecutors stated in a launch saying his arrest. He is the third Russia-linked particular person to be charged with crimes associated to utilizing LockBit.
His arrest comes as cybersecurity issues develop in measurement and significance. NBC Information reported Thursday on a widespread cyberattack that has impacted “a number of” federal businesses; CNBC beforehand reported on how a China-backed cyber group compromised U.S. Navy programs.
