Hacker Behind Kaseya Ransomware Attack Extradited
An alleged key member of the REvil ransomware group, who federal authorities say is responsible for the Kaseya hack that encrypted thousands of its customers’ networks, has been arrested and extradited to Texas to face US charges.
Yaroslav Vasinskyi is accused of being connected to the Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware group. He was extradited and arraigned in a Dallas, Texas court on Wednesday March 9th. The US Justice Department (DOJ) said the 22-year-old was behind the July 2021 ransomware attack on Kaseya, which crippled hundreds of companies around the world for multiple days.
Vasinskyl was arrested at a border crossing in Dorohusk, a border town on the Polish and Ukrainian borders on October 8. Vasinskyl made his first court appearance and was arraigned recently.
The indictment by the DOJ said Vasinskyl was a part of the REvil ransomware gang since 2019 and had launched 2,500 attacks in addition to being responsible for the attack on Kaseya. The DOJ states he made $2.3million from ransoms from ransomware attacks.
He was charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He will face a total of 115 years in prison if convicted on all charges. "The arrest of Yaroslav Vasinskyi, the charges against Yevgeniy Polyanin, and seizure of $6.1 million of his assets, and the arrests of two other Sodinokibi/REvil actors in Romania are the culmination of close collaboration with our international, US government, and especially our private sector partners," FBI Director Christopher Wray said.
"The FBI has worked creatively and relentlessly to counter the criminal hackers behind Sodinokibi/REvil."
REvil is responsible for deploying its ransomware on more than 175,000 computers. The group allegedly brought in at least $200 million from ransoms. For a long time, the REvil gang was known as one of the most prolific ransomware groups. In addition, the Russian-speaking "ransomware-as-a-service operation is allowing affiliates to rent certain access to their infrastructure as long as they get a share of the profits.
“Just eight months after committing his alleged ransomware attack on Kaseya from overseas, this defendant has arrived in a Dallas courtroom to face justice.. “When we are attacked, we will work with our partners here and abroad to go after cyber criminals, wherever they may be.” said US deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco in a statement.
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