The U.S. Justice Department charged a Ukraine national and a Russian in one of the worst ransomware attacks against American targets, court filings showed.
The U.S. Justice Department charged a Ukraine national and a Russian in one of the worst attacks against American targets, court filings showed. The latest U.S. actions follow a slew of measures taken to combat a surge in ransomware that has struck several big companies, including an attack on the largest fuel pipeline in the United States that crippled fuel delivery for several days. An indictment accused Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi, who was arrested in Poland last month, of breaking into Florida provider Kaseya over the July 4 weekend. From there, he and accomplices simultaneously distributed ransomware to as many as 1,500 Kaseya customers, encrypting their data and forcing some to shut down for days, it said. Vasinskyi is charged with breaking into the victim companies and installing encryption software, developed by the core. REvil directly handled the ransom negotiations and split the profits with affiliates like Vasinskyi. This model allowed the notorious ransomware gang to extort numerous companies for cryptocurrency. Kimberly Goody, director of financial crime analysis at security company Mandiant, said targeting affiliates could be more effective than going after the core gangs, because their skills are more prized than encryption software, which is ubiquitous. Some affiliates also work with multiple gangs. The arrest was part of a major ongoing sweep against key ransomware figures coordinated by the FBI, Europol and national police organizations throughout Europe, with help from private security companies.
