Ten years now and ransomware is still going strong.
The United States charged a Russian named Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev (aka Wazawaka, aka m1x, aka Boriselcin, aka Uhodiransomwar) with three ransomware attacks. The DoJ cited the following attacks in their indictment:
- June 25, 2020 – LockBit against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey.
- May 27, 2022 – Hive against a healthcare company in Mercer County, New Jersey.
- April 26, 2021 – Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.
On or about June 25, 2020, Matveev and his LockBit coconspirators allegedly deployed LockBit ransomware against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey. Additionally, on or about May 27, 2022, Matveev and his Hive coconspirators allegedly deployed Hive against a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization headquartered in Mercer County, New Jersey. On April 26, 2021, Matveev and his Babuk coconspirators allegedly deployed Babuk against the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.
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Matveev is charged with conspiring to transmit ransom demands, conspiring to damage protected computers, and intentionally damaging protected computers. If convicted, he faces over 20 years in prison.
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Finally, the Department of State has also announced an award of up to $10 million for information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of this defendant. Information that may be eligible for this award can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russian-national-charged-ransomware-attacks-against-critical-infrastructure
A $10 million reward is hefty. It’ll be interesting to see if Matveev is caught.
Sources
- https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russian-national-charged-ransomware-attacks-against-critical-infrastructure
- https://www.databreaches.net/russian-national-charged-with-ransomware-attacks-against-critical-infrastructure/
- https://www.databreaches.net/ransomware-charges-unsealed-against-russian-national-in-district-of-columbia/
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/ransomware-charges-unsealed-against-russian-national
- https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-05/matveev.indictment.pdf
- https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/press-release/file/1583786/download
Transcript
[00:00:00]
[00:00:08] Keith: Today on eCrimeBytes, nibble number 39, we’re gonna talk about a Russian charged with ransomware attacks. When I thought back to the first time I saw ransomware malware, it was at least 10 years ago. I’m thinking the spring of 2013 ish. It was brand new back then and it was a very destructive concept.
[00:00:31] And here we are 10 years later and ransomware is still going strong. So the United States has charged a Russian named Mikhail, Pavlovich Matveev, AKA Wazawaka aka m1x, aka Boriselcin with three ransomware attacks. The DOJ cited the following attacks in their indictment. There was a June 25th, 2020 attack that was LockBit against a law enforcement agency in Passaic County New Jersey. May 27th, 2022 there was an attack. It was the Hive malware against a healthcare company in Mercer County, New Jersey. And then April 26th, 2021 Babuk against metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC.
[00:01:24] He’s facing over 20 years in prison. Also, since he’s just charged and hasn’t been caught or anything like that, the Justice Department and the Department of State has announced an award of up to 10 million for information that leads to the arrest and or conviction of this defendant.
[00:01:47] And you can submit that information at tips.fbi.gov. And if you think about it, 10 million, that’s a hefty reward. It’ll be interesting to see if somebody gets him in the hands of US authorities. I think if he stays over in Russia, he’s probably gonna be pretty safe. But if for some reason he travels outside Russia, especially to the United States, he needs to be aware that there’ll probably be people waiting to catch him.
[00:02:15] All right, so if you enjoyed this quick eCrimeBytes nibble, I really hope to see you over on one of our longer, full episodes soon. Thanks and bye.
[00:02:24]
#ecrimebytes #electronic #truecrime #podcast #ransomware #humor #funny #comedy
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