
US seizes $6 million in ransom payments and expected to charge Ukrainian over major cyberattack
CNN
Law enforcement officials have seized an estimated $6 million in ransom payments, and the US Justice Department is expected to announce Monday that it has charged a suspect from Ukraine over a damaging July ransomware attack on an American company in a breakthrough for the Biden administration's pursuit of cybercriminals, CNN has learned.
Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a Ukrainian national who was arrested in Poland last month, is to face US charges for deploying ransomware known as REvil, which has been used in hacks that have cost US firms millions of dollars. Vasinskyi conducted a ransomware attack over the Fourth of July weekend on Florida-based software firm Kaseya that infected up to 1,500 businesses around the world, according to the charges the Justice Department is expected to announce.
Vasinskyi and another alleged REvil operative, Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin, are expected to be charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among other charges. As part of the investigation, authorities seized at least $6 million in funds allegedly linked to ransom payments received by Polyanin, US officials are expected to announce.