How the Kremlin provides a safe harbor for ransomware
Associated PressBOSTON — A global epidemic of digital extortion known as ransomware is crippling local governments, hospitals, school districts and businesses by scrambling their data files until they pay up. One big reason: Ransomware rackets are dominated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals who are shielded — and sometimes employed — by Russian intelligence agencies, according to security researchers, U.S. law enforcement, and now the Biden administration. On Thursday, as the U.S. slapped sanctions on Russia for malign activities including state-backed hacking, the Treasury Department said Russian intelligence has enabled ransomware attacks by cultivating and co-opting criminal hackers and giving them safe harbor. If you steal something from Americans, that’s fine.” Unlike North Korea, there is no indication Russia’s government benefits directly from ransomware crime, although Russian President Vladimir Putin may consider the resulting havoc a strategic bonus. It said he was known to have been “in the process of obtaining a license to work with Russian classified information from the FSB.” The indictment charged Evil Corp. with developing and distributing ransomware used to steal at least $100 million in more than 40 countries over the previous decade, including payrolls pilfered from towns in the American heartland.
History of this topic
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Associated Press
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Hindustan TimesA Russian ransomware gang breaches the Energy Department and other federal agencies
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The Independent
The US Offers a $10M Bounty for Intel on Conti Ransomware Gang
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Trial of Russian in alleged bitcoin fraud to wrap in Paris
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