Ukrainian, Russian Men Charged For Major Cyberattack That Affected Thousands Of US Businesses
The Justice Department on Monday charged a Ukrainian man and a Russian man suspect of collecting $6.1 million out of a major cyberattack that affected over 1,500 businesses around the world.
Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi and Russian Yevgeniy Polyanin were charged in separate indictments by the U.S. with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among other charges, the Justice Department said. If convicted on all counts, Vasinskyi and Polyanin face a maximum penalty of 115 and 145 years in prison, respectively.
"Cybercrime is a serious threat to our country: to our personal safety, to the health of our economy, and to our national security," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
"Our message today is clear. The United States, together with our allies, will do everything in our power to identify the perpetrators of ransomware attacks, to bring them to justice, and to recover the funds they have stolen from their victims."
Vasinskyi and Polyanin were arrested for conducting around 2,500 ransomware attacks in early July that brought them millions of dollars in payments to unlock infected computer systems, NBC News noted.
Vasinskyi, 22, was arrested last month while trying to enter Poland from Ukraine and is now set to face extradition in the U.S.
Polyanin, 28, remained at large, according to Reuters.
Both men allegedly wrote the ransomware software, known as Sodinokibi/REvil, in April 2019 and were working with two others to spread and refine the software, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department has retrieved the $6.1 million in funds traceable to alleged ransom extortionists.
“Our message to ransomware criminals is clear: If you target victims here, we will target you,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
European law enforcement on Monday announced that Romanian authorities on Nov. 4 arrested two other suspects of cyberattacks in 17 countries that used the REvil ransomware infrastructure.
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