The US is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a Russian hacker. He is said to have played a prominent role in the development of three variants of ransomware. He is said to have stolen more than $ 200 million from his victims with his scams.
The US Department of Justice writes this in a press statement.
Hackers made more than 2,800 victims worldwide.
America is diligently looking for Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev. This Russian hacker used several pseudonyms online, including Wazawaka, m1x, Boriselcin, and Uhodiransomwar. The Ministry of Justice suspects that it contributed to the developing of several types of ransomware, including LockBit, Hive and Babuk.
This ransomware has been used to make more than 2,800 victims worldwide, including government agencies, hospitals, schools, and non-profit organizations. LockBit has been used in attacks on Royal Mail, the Belgian municipality of Geraardsbergen, the KNVB and the Brabant healthcare institution Joris Zorg. Hive was used, among other things, in the cyber attack on MediaMarkt, and the perpetrators demanded $ 50 million in ransom from the electronics company.
Russian hackers made over 200 million with ransomware.
The three ransomware variants work in almost the same way. First of all, hackers looked for vulnerable computer systems and infiltrated the network. The one time, they managed to penetrate on their own; the other time, they bought stolen access data from others. They then installed the ransomware on the victim’s system to encrypt essential data. Finally, they sent a ransom note and negotiated the size of the ransom with the victims.
Matveev would have tried to extort more than 400 million dollars from his victims. In total, he managed to cash in an amount of 208 million dollars.
“From his home base in Russia, Matveev used multiple ransomware variants to attack critical infrastructure worldwide. These international crimes require a coordinated response,” said a spokesman. For example, the hacker was put on a blacklist today, which means that Americans are not allowed to do business with him.
Hacker faces a prison sentence of more than 20 years.
To speed up the arrest of Matveev, the Justice Department is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the Russian hacker.
He is suspected of computer trespass, deliberately damaging protected computers and money laundering. If convicted, he faces more than 20 years in prison.
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