Mikhail Vasiliev, a Russian-Canadian national was sentenced to about four years to Canadian prison with the possibility of additional U.S. charges following his participation in the LockBit ransomware operation.
Vasiliev, a 34-year-old was arrested in Bradford, Ontario in October 2022. This past February, Vasiliev pleaded guilty to both stealing computer data and holding the data hostage for extortionary purposes. The victims of Vasiliev’s attacks were three separate Canadian organizations. he executed the attacks by encrypting the company’s data, and subsequently holding the information hostage seeking ransom payments. During his arrest, Europol described Vasiliev’s level of involvement in the LockBit attacks as making him one of the “most prolific ransomware operators”. In November 2022 the US Department of Justice also announced charges against Vasiliev. He agreed to extradition and currently faces up to five years in US prison. However, before his extradition to the U.S., Vasiliev was ordered to pay $860,000 in restitution to the Canadian organizations he targeted. So far a total of six individuals have been arrested in connection with the LockBit ransomware operations.
Read more:
https://www.securityweek.com/lockbit-ransomware-affiliate-sentenced-to-prison-in-canada/
