A 34-year-old Russian-Canadian has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison in Canada for his role in the LockBit global ransomware operation.
Mikhail VasilyevThe Ontario resident was initially arrested in November 2022 and charged by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) with “conspiring with others to intentionally damage protected computers and transmit ransom demands in connection therewith.”
News of Vasilyev’s imprisonment was first reported by CTV News.
Canadian law enforcement raided the defendant’s home in August and October 2022, and he allegedly kept a list of “potential or historical” victims as well as screenshots of communications exchanged with “LockBitSupp” on the Tox messaging platform.
The raid also uncovered a text file containing instructions for deploying LockBit ransomware, the ransomware source code, and a control panel used by electronic criminal groups to spread file-locking malware.
Vasilyev pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of online extortion, hoax and weapons charges, CTV News reported. During sentencing, Judge Michel Forster described him as a “cyber terrorist” who was “motivated by his own greed.”
He is believed to have become a cybercriminal from his home during the COVID-19 pandemic, attempting to steal data from three Canadian companies and hold them hostage for ransom between 2021 and 2022.
Vasilyev, who agreed to be extradited to the United States, was also ordered to pay back more than $860,000 in damages.
LockBit, one of the most prolific ransomware groups in history, suffered a huge blow in February 2024 when its infrastructure was seized in a coordinated law enforcement operation.this destroy Meanwhile, three LockBit affiliates in Poland and Ukraine were also arrested.
Although the group has resurfaced with a new leak site, evidence suggests that the new victims listed are either old or fake, designed to give the impression that the group is back up and running.
A federal jury in Washington, D.C., convicted Roman Sterlingov, a dual Russian-Swedish citizen, of operating Bitcoin Haze from 2011 to 2021 to facilitate the laundering of sales of illegal narcotics, computers Criminal, identity theft and child sexual abuse material.
According to Bloomberg, Ilya Lichtenstein admitted in August 2023 to the theft of approximately 120,000 Bitcoins due to the hack of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, and testified last month that he had 10 Bitcoin fog was used to launder virtual assets for the first time.
“Bitcoin Mist is the longest-running cryptocurrency ‘mixer’ and is notorious as the go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to hide their ill-gotten gains from law enforcement,” the U.S. Department of Justice said.
“During its decade-long operation, Bitcoin Fog moved more than 1.2 million Bitcoins worth approximately $400 million at the time of the transaction.”
