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Hosting provider Aeza Group has been sanctioned for providing services to cyber criminals and enabling data theft.
The United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), alongside the UK’s National Crime Agency, has sanctioned the Aeza Group for its operations as a bulletproof hosting service enabling a raft of cyber criminal activities.
Headquartered in the Russian city of St Petersburg, the Aeza Group provides hosting services to ransomware operators and other hackers who have targeted organisations in the US defence and technology industries, as well as other entities worldwide.
According to OFAC, the Bian Lian ransomware group, the RedLine info stealer, and the Russian darknet market BlackSprut all utilise Aeza Group infrastructure.
“Cyber criminals continue to rely heavily on BPH service providers like Aeza Group to facilitate disruptive ransomware attacks, steal US technology, and sell black-market drugs,” acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said in a 1 July statement.
“Treasury, in close coordination with the UK and our other international partners, remains resolved to expose the critical nodes, infrastructure, and individuals that underpin this criminal ecosystem.”
Four individuals associated with the Aeza Group have also been sanctioned, as well as Aeza International (based in the UK), and Russian-based subsidiaries Aeza Logistic LLC and Cloud Solutions LLC. The sanctions also apply to a cryptocurrency address linked to the Aeza Group’s payment infrastructure.
Under the sanctions, all property under the control of the Aeza Group and other related entities is blocked, as well as any transactions with the sanctioned entities. This follows the OFAC’s sanctioning of the ZServers’ bulletproof hosting service in February this year.
Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis called OFAC’s action “another significant step in targeting the infrastructure that enables cyber crime operations”.
“By sanctioning bulletproof hosting providers, the US government is attacking the supply chain that makes large-scale cyber crime possible, rather than just pursuing individual threat actors after attacks have occurred,” it said.
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.
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