Russian web gangsters named by UK and US for hacking hospitals during Covid
A major Russian cyber crime gang has been hit with UK and US sanctions for hacking hospitals during the pandemic.
Eleven international web gangsters have had asset freezes and travel bans slapped on them for their attacks on the NHS. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office -FCDO - said the crooks infected millions of computers worldwide with malware.
They also targeted British schools, local authorities and businesses, extorting over £27 million from UK victims by the group, and £144 million) globally. The gang was investigated by the National Crime Agency.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that by revealing the identities of those sanctioned more ransomware attacks will be disrupted. They include senior administrator Andrey Zhuykov, and Maksim Khaliullin and Mikhail Tsarev, who recruited new members.
The gang also threatened those who opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the FCDO said. Mr Cleverly said: "These cybercriminals thrive off anonymity, moving in the shadows of the internet to cause maximum damage and extort money from their victims.
Brit has fingertip bitten off by Russian woman in beach beanbag argument
"Our sanctions show they cannot act with impunity. We know who they are and what they are doing. By exposing their identities, we are disrupting their business models and making it harder for them to target our people, our businesses and our institutions."
Britain's Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs James Cleverly (AFP via Getty Images)NCA director general of operations Rob Jones said: “These sanctions are a continuation of our campaign against international cyber criminals.
“Attacks by this ransomware group have caused significant damage to our businesses and ruined livelihoods, with victims having to deal with the prolonged impact of financial and data losses. These criminals thought they were untouchable, but our message is clear: we know who you are and, working with our partners, we will not stop in our efforts to bring you to justice.”
The criminals hit include: Andrey Zhuykov, a kingpin in the group and a senior administrator. Known by the online monikers “Defender”, “Dif” and “Adam”. Maksim Galochkin led a unit within the gang and is known as “Bentley”, “Volhvb” and “Max17." Maksim Rudenskiy, a key member of the Trickbot group and was the team lead for coders. Known by the online monikers “Buza”, “Silver” and “Binman”. Mikhail Tsarev was a mid-level manager who assisted with the group's finances and oversaw some operations. Known by the online monikers “Mango”, “Frances” and “Khano”.
Dmitry Putilin was associated with the purchase of Trickbot infrastructure. Known by the online monikers “Grad” and “Staff”. Maksim Khaliullin was an HR manager for the group. He was associated with the purchase of Trickbot infrastructure including procuring Virtual Private Servers (VPS). Known by the online moniker “Kagas”. Sergey Loguntsov was a developer for the group. Known by the online monikers “Begemot”, “Begemot_Sun” and “Zulas”.
Alexander Mozhaev was part of the admin team responsible for general administration duties. Known by the online monikers “Green” and “Rocco”. Vadym Valiakhmetov worked as a coder and his duties included backdoor and loader projects. Known by the online monikers “Weldon”, “Mentos” and “Vasm”. Artem Kurov worked as a coder with development duties in the Trickbot group. Known by the online moniker “Naned”. Mikhail Chernov was part of the internal utilities group. Known by the online monikers “Bullet” and “m2686”.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
