May 2, 2024 at 08:45AM
Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi, also known as Rabotnik, has been sentenced to over 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution for his involvement in over 2,500 ransomware attacks, part of the REvil group. The attacks saw demands exceeding $700 million in cryptocurrency. Vasinskyi was extradited to the U.S. from Poland and has pleaded guilty to multiple charges. The U.S. Department of Justice has also secured the forfeiture of millions of dollars from alleged ransom payments. Additionally, Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in connection with broader efforts to combat ransomware.
The meeting notes from May 02, 2024, cover the sentencing of Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a Ukrainian national, to more than 13 years in prison and a restitution order for carrying out thousands of ransomware attacks as part of the REvil ransomware group. Vasinskyi and his co-conspirators orchestrated over 2,500 ransomware attacks, demanding ransom payments totaling more than $700 million in cryptocurrency. The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Vasinskyi and his co-conspirators used cryptocurrency exchangers and mixing services to conceal their gains, and resorted to publicly exposing victims’ data to drive ransom demands higher when payments were not made.
This case also involved the extradition of Vasinskyi to the U.S. following his arrest in Poland, and the Department of Justice’s forfeiture of millions of dollars’ worth of ransom payments obtained through civil forfeiture cases. Additionally, Vasinskyi and Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin were sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as part of broader government-wide efforts to combat ransomware.
The notes also mentioned the indictment of Alexander Lefterov, a Moldovan national, for operating a botnet comprising thousands of infected computers across the U.S. Court documents revealed that Lefterov and his co-conspirators stole victims’ login credentials and used them to gain access to victim accounts at financial institutions, payment processors, and retail establishments to steal money from the victims.
The meeting notes offered a comprehensive overview of recent cybercrime developments, providing essential insights into significant cases and government actions to combat ransomware and cyber threats.