U.S. prosecutors have announced charges against three Russian citizens and two web hosting providers for hacking, conspiracy and money laundering. According to investigators, the suspects provided the infrastructure for large-scale cyberattacks that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to American companies.
U.S. prosecutors have announced charges against three Russian citizens and two web hosting providers for hacking, conspiracy and money laundering. According to investigators, the suspects provided the infrastructure for large-scale cyberattacks that caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to American companies.
According to TechCrunch, the indictment against the Russians was filed back in 2024, but was only made public this week. The defendants in the case are St. Petersburg residents Alexander Volosovyk, Kirill Zatolokin, and Yulia Pankova.
According to US law enforcement, the trio owned and operated web hosting providers Media Land and ML. Cloud. These companies positioned their services as «impenetrable» hosting and knowingly helped customers avoid law enforcement requests and website blocking. The providers provided infrastructure to known hacking groups that use ransomware, including LockBit, BlackSuit and Play.
The attackers used this power to launch distributed DDoS attacks, phishing campaigns, and cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. In total, dozens of businesses in more than 20 US states were affected by the hackers' actions, and the total earnings of cybercriminals are estimated at about $62 million.
«The actions of these web hosts endanger the security of Americans. We will continue to dismantle such networks and protect critical infrastructure from cybercriminals both at home and abroad,» said US Deputy Attorney General A. Thyssen Duva.
The suspects are currently in Russia. Since Russia does not extradite its citizens, the extradition of the hackers is unlikely unless they decide to visit countries that have relevant bilateral agreements with the United States.
It was previously reported that cyber experts from the Security Service of Ukraine, together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, have exposed a large-scale campaign by Russian special services to systematically hack the messengers of officials, military personnel, politicians, and activists. The geography of hostile operations covers not only Ukraine, but also European countries and the US.
