Law enforcement officers have seized $6 million and charged two suspected hackers in connection with a wave of ransomware attacks, including one that brought down businesses on the Fourth of July weekend, U.S. officials revealed on Monday.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced charges against Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 22, and Russian Yevgeniy Polyanin, 28.
They are accused of being part of the REvil ransomware gang.
President Joe Biden welcomed the moves and said work continued to hold accountable anyone who threatened U.S. security.
'When I met with President Putin in June, I made clear that the United States would take action to hold cybercriminals accountable,' he said.
'That’s what we have done today.
'We are bringing the full strength of the federal government to disrupt malicious cyber activity and actors, bolster resilience at home, address the abuse of virtual currency to launder ransom payments, and leverage international cooperation to disrupt the ransomware ecosystem and address safe harbors for ransomware criminals.'
AG Merrick Garland said: 'The Justice Department is sparing no resource to identify and bring to justice anyone, anywhere who targets the United States with a ransomware attack'
On Monday Attorney General Merrick Garland announced charges against Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 22, and Russian Yevgeniy Polyanin, 28
President Biden welcomed the moves and said work would continue to hold accountable anyone who threatened the security of the U.S.
At a press conference earlier, Garland said: 'The Justice Department is sparing no resource to identify and bring to justice anyone, anywhere who targets the United States with a ransomware attack.'
The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against the pair and a virtual currency exchange, Chatex, which it said was used by criminal gangs.
REvil - also known as Sodinokibi - has been linked in recent months to ransomware targeting the world's largest meat processor, JBS SA, as well as a Fourth of July weekend attack that snarled businesses around the world through a breach of a Florida-based software company called Kaseya.
According to court documents, Vasinskyi was allegedly responsible for the attack on Kaseya, encrypting
