An affiliate of the LockBit ransomware gang has been sentenced to virtually 4 years in jail after earlier pleading responsible to expenses of cyber extortion and weapons expenses.
34-year-old Mikhail Vasiliev, who has twin Russian and Canadian nationality, was arrested in 2022 as a part of a multinational legislation enforcement investigation into LockBit that began in March 2020.
In keeping with media studies, Vasiliev admitted focusing on organisations, encrypting their knowledge, and demanding over $100 million for the LockBit gang.
Canadian police raided Vasiliev’s residence in Bradford, Ontario, in August 2022, discovering a listing on his pc of previous and potential targets, together with particulars of a New Jersey agency hit by LockBit in late 2021.
Investigators additionally found on Vasiliev’s PC different proof of his closeness to the LockBit ransomware gang: malicious supply code, photographs of usernames and passwords, and screenshots of end-to-end encrypted conversations between Vasiliev and LockBit’s mysterious administrator, LockBitSupp, discussing the extortion of victims.
On a later search, in October 2022, officers mentioned they’d found Vasiliev say in his storage, taking a look at his pc. In keeping with investigators, they managed to cease Vasiliev from locking his PC and observed that it gave the impression to be related to a LockBit management panel.
At trial, Vasiliev’s lawyer argued that monetary difficulties throughout the COVID-19 pandemic had pushed his shopper in direction of cybercrime. The decide, nonetheless, rejected the justification and described Vasiliev as a “cyber terrorist” who was motivated by greed.
Vasiliev has additionally been ordered to pay $860,000 in restitution to his Canadian victims along with his jail sentence. He additionally faces extradition to the US to face additional expenses associated to the LockBit ransomware assaults.
LockBit has tried to extort cash from many companies in recent times. One notable goal was Accenture in August 2021. The gang allegedly stole six terabytes of knowledge and demanded a $50 million ransom from the IT and consulting large. Different victims embrace the UK’s Merseyrail railway and German autoparts large Continental.
Final month, legislation enforcement companies disrupted LockBit’s infrastructure and provided a $15 million reward for info on the cybercrime group’s leaders.
Regardless of LockBit’s makes an attempt to nonetheless depict itself as a serious participant on the earth of ransomware, it seems that coordinated motion by legislation enforcement is paying off and weakening the gang.
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