The Treasury Division’s Workplace of Overseas Property Management (OFAC) included quite a few pockets addresses related to two people from Russia in its checklist of specifically designated nationals.
Artur Sungatov and Ivan Kondratyev confronted costs linked to the deployment of ransomware, with their affiliation to LockBit, a ransomware syndicate that reportedly stole greater than $120 million in ransom funds, as per the US Division of Justice.
Kondratiev served as a LockBit affiliate and chief of the affiliate sub-group, the Nationwide Hazard Society, whereas Sungatov was additionally actively engaged in LockBit ransomware assaults along with being an affiliate.
US, UK Collaborate Towards LockBit
Collaborating with the UK and varied worldwide legislation enforcement our bodies, the US pursued authorized motion in opposition to LockBit, aiming to carry the group accountable for its actions.
In keeping with the official press launch, Russia-based ransomware group LockBit was first noticed in 2019, greatest identified for its ransomware variant of the identical identify.
It operates on a Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) mannequin. It licenses its ransomware software program to affiliated cybercriminals in change for a proportion of the paid ransoms and is understood for its double extortion ways, the place its cybercriminals exfiltrate huge quantities of information from its victims earlier than encrypting the sufferer’s pc programs and demanding ransom funds.
LockBit was essentially the most deployed ransomware variant globally in 2022 and stays prolific in the present day.
OFAC’s investigation recognized LockBit as chargeable for the ransomware assault on ICBC, which occurred on November 9, 2023. The ransomware assault disrupted ICBC’s U.S. broker-dealer, affecting the settlement of over $9 billion price of property backed by Treasury securities.
The ransomware assault triggered a blackout of ICBC’s pc programs, leading to a lack of e-mail and communications. ICBC’s lack of ability to entry its programs triggered securities to be delivered for settlement with no funds backing the trades.
In the meantime, Europol reported that the UK’s Nationwide Crime Company took management over the “technical infrastructure” supporting all aspects of the LockBit service, together with their darkish net leak website the place information stolen from victims throughout ransomware assaults was beforehand hosted.
Ransomware Soar
In keeping with a latest evaluation by Chainalysis, ransomware funds surpassed $1 billion in 2023, marking a document excessive regardless of a decline in 2022.
2023, nonetheless, witnessed a notable surge within the frequency, scale, and magnitude of ransomware assaults. These assaults had been discovered to have been perpetrated by numerous entities, starting from massive felony syndicates to smaller teams and particular person actors, with consultants observing an increase of their numbers.
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