DailyPost 2988
GLOBAL RANSOMWARE MASTERMIND ARRESTED
That ransomware is the nuclear war head of cyber crimes is to state the obvious. Ransomware gangs remain the reigning king of the organised cyber crime syndicates. Their attack sends a chill down the spine of any organisation or government department / agency. The way money is generated out of ransomware attacks in multifarious ways has to be seen to be believed. It can lead to double or triple extortions or even more depending on the creativity, foresight and the technical expertise of the hacker. He has to be a man of steel, engaging the adversary / victim in a battle of nerves.
Ransomware gangs rule the roost in the cyber world and very rarely any of the top hackers are caught or the group dismantled. You can watch their exploits on the darknet, which has turned out to be a platform displaying their digital booty for demanding ransom. In such a scenario what can be the maximum reward which any country can announce for one of the top criminals globally in ransomware. It cannot grow bigger. The US reward is up to $10 million for any information that could lead to his arrest or conviction. The ransomware gangster we are talking about is Mikhail Pavlovich Mateev.
He is a Russian linked to Hive and LockBit ransomware. Earlier he has also gone public about his criminal activities, stating that “his illicit activities will be tolerated by local authorities provided he remains loyal to Russia.” Notwithstanding this tall claim, he has been arrested by law enforcement agencies in Russia. As per the report from Russian media outlet RIA Novosti, Mateev has been accused “of developing a malicious program designed to encrypt files and seek ransom in return for the decryption key.
Mateev has been working as an affiliate for Conti, LockBit, Hive, Trigona and NoEscape ransomware groups. It is also claimed that held a management-level role with Babuk ransomware group up to early 2022. Besides all this, he had deeper ties with the Russian cybercrime group known as Evil Corp. This arrest is all the more important as it comes on the back of sentencing to several years in prison of four members of the now defunct REvil ransomware operation after being convicted of hacking and money laundering charges. Will these recent stringent action / sentencing mean turning tables against the ransomware gangs in the long run?
ONLY A CONCERTED AND CONSISTENT GLOBAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ACTION CAN MAKE A DENT ON THE OUTRIGHTLY AUDACIOUS RANSOMWARE GANGS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.