The United States announced Tuesday that it is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the capture of the hacker Russian Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, who faces an accusation of more than 20 years in prison for stealing data from government agencies.
“We have taken this action because of Matveev’s role in hijacking activities targeting key US law enforcement, businesses and infrastructure around the world,” State Department spokesman Matt Miller said in a statement.
(You may be interested in: Anonymous vs. Russia: What can hackers do against power?).
Besides the reward, the Justice Department filed two indictments against Martveev in one court for the District of Columbia and one for the District of New Jersey; and the Treasury Department imposed financial sanctions on it.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Matveev, known online as Wazawaka, would have collected $200 million in ransoms paid by victims of digital data kidnapping since 2020.
From his home in Russia, Matveev led three data hijacking campaigns, called LockBit, Babuk and Hiveagainst nearly 3,000 victims, including hospitals and government agencies.
All cyberattacks followed the same “modus operandi”: hackers would illegally identify and gain access to computer systems, hacking into them or buying stolen login credentials, then deploying data-stealing malware and negotiating a ransom with the victim.
(In addition: Russia would have tried to ‘hack’ 42 countries in the last two months).
The United States will not tolerate kidnapping attacks against our people and our institutions.
The US authorities have accused Matveev in court of having conspired to hack protected computer equipment and to demand ransoms, for which he faces a prison sentence of more than 20 years if convicted.
US Treasury sanctions block all his properties in the United States and prohibit financial and commercial transactions with Matveev.
“The United States will not tolerate ransomware attacks against our people and our institutions,” Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement.
According to the Treasury, 75 percent of cyberattacks related to data theft are linked to Russia.
EFE
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