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The US and the UK have sanctioned seven Russian men for their connection to a range of recent ransomware attacks.
The men are believed to be senior members of Russian cyber crime syndicate Trickbot, a group which has conducted a number of particularly brutal attacks, such as targeting hospitals and healthcare centers early in the pandemic.
The British Foreign Office revealed that two ransomware strains known as Conti and Ryuk, released by Trickbot, had 149 victims and earned the syndicate an estimated £27 million (roughly AU$47.1 million).
It is worth noting that the Trickbot group is loosely defined. Trickbot malware is heavily used by cyber groups Conti and Ryuk, both of whom also makes use of their own malware. The sanctioned members work across all three.
“Ransomware groups known as Conti, Wizard Spider, UNC1878, Gold Blackburn, Trickman, and Trickbot have been responsible for the development and deployment of: Trickbot, Anchor, BazarLoader, BazarBackdoor, as well as the ransomware strains Conti and Diavol. They are also involved in the deployment of Ryuk ransomware,” said the British National Cyber Security Centre.
The sanctioned individuals are Mikhail Iskritskiy, Valentin Karyagin, Vitaliy Kovalev, Maksim Mikhailov, Dmitry Pleshevskiy, Valery Sedletski, and Ivan Vakhromeyev.
In a joint press release, the US and the UK announced the sanction, revealing that it “represents the very first sanctions of their kind for the UK”.
"By sanctioning these cyber criminals, we are sending a clear signal to them and others involved in ransomware that they will be held to account," said UK Foreign Minister James Cleverly.
“Cyber criminals, particularly those based in Russia, seek to attack critical infrastructure, target US businesses, and exploit the international financial system,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E Nelson.
“The United States is taking action today in partnership with the United Kingdom because international cooperation is key to addressing Russian cyber crime.”
As a result of the sanctions, it is illegal to engage in transactions with the listed individuals in both the US and the UK. Those who do, risk being flagged themselves.
In addition, all property owned by the listed individuals in the US “must be blocked and reported to OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control)”.
Prior to the latest sanctions, the US and the UK worked together in issuing sanctions against individuals believed to be part of the Evil Corp cyber crime group. Some of the men sanctioned previously in 2020 are believed to also be some of the individuals listed in the Trickbot sanctions.
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