UNITED STATES—The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they have taken action against two foreign nationals charged with deploying Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware attacks on businesses and government agencies across the United States.
An indictment was unsealed on November 8, charging 22-year-old Ukrainian national, Yaroslav Vasinkskyi with conducting ransomware attacks on multiple victims including the July 2021 attack against the multinational information technology software company, Kaseya.
In addition, the DOJ announced that they have seized $6.1 million in funds traceable to alleged ransom payments received by a 28-year-old Russian national, Yevgeniy Polyanin who is also being charged with conducting Sodinokibi/REvil ransomware attacks against multiple victims including Texas government agencies and businesses on or about, August 16, 2019.
On November 4, the Russian analyst, Igor Danchenko, who worked on the Dossier with Christopher Steele, was arrested for lying to the FBI.
According to reports, Polyanin and Vasinskyi are charged in separate indictments with conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity with computers, substantive counts of damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted on all counts each one faces a maximum penalty of 115-145 years prison time.
Vasinskyi was taken into custody on October 8, in Poland where he will remain pending proceedings in connection with his requested extradition to the United States.
Special Counsel, John Durham has confirmed that this investigation is far from over.
The Steele dossier investigation began around March of the 2016 Presidential primary elections.
Christopher Steele is reportedly a Russian national expert for Britain’s M16.
The dossier itself is 35 pages of documentation alleging connections between Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign and some Russian officials.
Wall Street Journal initially reported that Fusion GPS, a private intelligence company was initially hired by Free Beacon, a conservative website, to conduct research on opposition candidates. As facts surfaced, it was clear the dossier was paid for by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
In the press release, the DOJ gives credit to the rapid response of the National Police of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine. The investigation is being led by the FBI’s Dallas and Jackson Field Offices assisted by the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs and the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
More information may be found at the Department of Justice website, Justice.gov
