Russian man exposed to the USA for connection to Ransomware gang

Russian man exposed to the USA for connection to Ransomware gang

A Russian man was shown from South Korea to the USA to deal with charges in connection with a ransomware group that allegedly blackmailed over $ 16 million of victims worldwide, so the US authorities on Monday.

who is Evgenii Ptitsyn?

The 42-year-old Evgenii Ptitsyn is accused of managing the sale, distribution and operation of Phobos, a kind of ransomware that was used in over 1,000 attacks on public and private organizations, according to the Ministry of Justice. The victims of this ransomware include government agencies, health facilities and schools.

FBI success and extradition issues

The message is a success for the FBI, which usually has to wait for alleged ransomware heads to leave Russia to try to arrest them because the United States and Russia have no delivery agreement. Last year, Phobos operators, a children's hospital based in North Carolina, extended around $ 100,000 and a public school system in California by around $ 300,000, as is the result of the indictment.

charges against Ptitsyn

ptitsyn faces accusations for wire and computer fraud consibers. He first appeared in a court in the Maryland district on November 4th. The Ministry of Justice said that CNN is trying to find a lawyer for Ptitsyn to get a comment.

The role of Ptitsyn in the Ransomware Group

ptitsyn allegedly played a leading role in the Phobos-Ransomware group and monitored a cryptocurrency wallet that collected payments from “partners”, i.e. hackers that paid for access to ransomware. This ransomware has been available at least since 2019, so the findings by cyber security experts.

clarification of cybercrime

The arrest of ptisyn is another example of the aggressive Ministry of Justice to combat the Ransomware problem that has given American companies, schools and hospitals high million losses.

Despite the efforts of the US government to interrupt the flow of money of cybercriminals, this extended record-breaking $ 1.1 billion in ransom of sacrificial organizations worldwide, Such a report of the crypto-tracking company chainalysis.