The United States Offers $10 Million Reward for Russian Hacker
The United States has announced that it is offering a reward of up to 10 million dollars for information leading to the capture of Russian hacker Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev. Matveev is facing a charge of more than 20 years in prison for stealing data from government agencies.
“We have taken this action because of Matveev’s role in targeted hijacking activities against key US law enforcement, businesses, and infrastructure around the world,” said State Department spokesperson Matt Miller.
Additional Charges and Sanctions Imposed
In addition to the reward, the Department of Justice has presented two indictments against Matveev before courts in the District of Columbia and New Jersey. The Treasury Department has also imposed financial sanctions on him.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, Matveev, who is known online as Wazawaka, has collected $200 million in ransoms paid by victims of digital data hijacking since 2020. From his home in Russia, Matveev led three data hijacking campaigns, called LockBit, Babuk, and Hive, against nearly 3,000 victims, including hospitals and government agencies.
All cyberattacks followed the same “modus operandi”: hackers illegally identified and accessed computer systems, hacking or buying stolen login credentials, then deploying data-stealing malware and negotiating a ransom with the victim.
US Authorities Charge Matveev
US authorities have charged Matveev in court with conspiring to hack into protected computer equipment and to demand ransom, for which he faces a prison term of more than 20 years if convicted. US Treasury sanctions block all of his US properties and prohibit financial and business transactions with Matveev.
“The US will not tolerate ransomware attacks against our people and our institutions,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, in a statement.
Russian Cyber-Attack Trends
The Treasury states that 75% of cyber-attacks related to data theft are linked to Russia. Authorities worldwide are taking stronger measures to combat cybercriminals and are urging businesses to increase their cybersecurity measures so that they are not as vulnerable to attacks by hackers.
