12:19 10.11.2021

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies helped catch the hacker - he faces 115 years in prison - the US Department of Justice

2 min read

Officers from the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police of Ukraine took part in a joint international operation to identify and detain cybercriminals, including Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi, in connection with ransomware attacks in the United States and millions in damage. The US Department of Justice reported this on its website.

«On Oct. 8, Vasinskyi was taken into custody in Poland where he remains held by authorities pending proceedings in connection with his requested extradition to the United States, pursuant to the extradition treaty between the United States and the Republic of Poland. In parallel with the arrest, interviews and searches were carried out in multiple countries, and would not have been possible without the rapid response of the National Police of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine» - the statement reads.

According to the Ministry of Justice, Y.Vasinskyi and his accomplices carried out systematic attacks using the extortion program Sodinokibi on the computers of companies in the United States with the subsequent extortion of significant funds to block access to them.

This citizen is a member of the well-known hacker group REvil, which most likely developed this malicious extortion program, also involved in the attack in July 2021 on the company Kaseya.

«Thanks to the coordinated work of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine and international partners, it was possible to seize funds worth $ 6.1 million, which can be traced through probable ransom payments and will be reimbursed to the affected companies», - the US Department of Justice noted.

According to US law, if a citizen of Y.Vasinskyi is found guilty of all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 115 years in prison.

According to media reports, the Ukrainian was part of a group of hackers who broke into Quanta Computer Inc's storage system and stole a drawing of a MacBook Pro 14 with a detailed description of the technical characteristics. Cybercriminals demanded that the company pay $ 50 million, otherwise they threatened to publish the stolen data.

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