July 22, 2024 at 02:23PM
The US government imposed sanctions on two Russian cybercriminals, Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Pankratova leads the hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn (CARR), while Degtyarenko is the primary hacker. CARR targeted industrial systems at critical infrastructure sites in the US and Europe, resulting in sanctions to block their US-based property and transactions.
Based on the provided meeting notes, the key takeaways are:
1. The US government has imposed sanctions on two Russian cybercriminals, Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, for cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure.
2. The sanctioned individuals are key members of the Russia-aligned hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn (CARR).
3. Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova, known as ‘YuliYA,’ is allegedly the leader of CARR, controlling the group’s operators and acting as their spokesperson.
4. Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, aka ‘Dena,’ allegedly acts as CARR’s primary hacker, carrying out attacks and creating training materials for others.
5. CARR launched its operations in 2022, using distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks targeting Ukraine and its supporters.
6. The threat group escalated its operations by late 2023, targeting industrial systems at critical infrastructure sites, including water treatment and energy facilities in the US and Europe.
7. CARR claimed responsibility for compromising the SCADA system of a US energy firm and manipulating a water storage unit in Texas, posting video proof of their access to the related systems in January 2024.
8. The announced sanctions result in the blocking of US-based property and interests for the designated individuals, and prohibit US persons from performing transactions with them.
9. Offshore financial institutions engaging with the sanctioned individuals may face sanctions or fines.
10. The Treasury’s actions aim to isolate, pressure, and disrupt the cybercrime activities of the sanctioned individuals and deter other hackers from engaging with them.
11. Examples of similar sanctions against other individuals include Dmitry Khoroshev, Aleksandr Gennadievich Ermakov, Zhao Guangzong, and Ni Gaobin, representing a broader US effort to address malicious cyber activities.
These takeaways provide a clear summary of the meeting notes’ essential points.