Russia has sentenced four members of the infamous REvil ransomware group, also known as Sodinokibi, to prison terms. The fact that Russian authorities are taking action against cybercriminals, particularly a ransomware organization operating within their borders is an uncommon occurrence.
Artem Zayets, Aleksey Malozemov, Daniil Puzyrevsky, and Ruslan Khansvyarov were convicted by the St. Petersburg Garrison Military Court of a number of cybercrimes, including the unlawful distribution of malware and the circulation of payment methods.
The 14 people who were first arrested in connection with the REvil case included the guilty individuals. Once a common threat actor, the REvil gang was disbanded after Russian authorities arrested a number of its members.
“All defendants have been in custody since early 2022. They have not admitted their guilt. The arrests of the alleged REvil members, who are called pro-Russian cybercriminals in the Western press, took place in several regions of the Russian Federation in June 2021,” as per media reports.
The group’s involvement in high-profile hacks against worldwide technology businesses, Spanish telecom company MasMovil, Kaseya, a US nuclear weapons contractor, and numerous others was discovered during the inquiry, which was started at the request of U.S. law enforcement.
The four were sentenced to prison terms ranging from four and a half to six years. Considering that Russia has frequently been seen as a safe haven for hackers, this result is quite remarkable.
These REvil members’ sentences come after a broader Russian crackdown on cybercrime. The Cryptex and UAPS organizations, which are known to offer money laundering services to cybercriminals, were also the subject of investigations by Russian officials earlier this year.
It also comes after 24-year-old Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi was sentenced to 13 years in prison in the United States for his role in more than 2,500 ransomware assaults using REvil.
It is significant to remember that the Russian government’s actions against REvil occurred in the face of mounting international criticism, especially from the US, following the gang’s 2021 targeting of more than 1,000 businesses throughout the globe.
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