Russia arrests ransomware attacker Wazawaka

One of many world’s most infamous hackers might lastly be in custody.  stories that ransomware affiliate Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev also referred to as Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x and Boriselcin has been arrested.

Prosecutors haven’t confirmed if Matveev is below arrest, however stories point out that Matveev often is the hacker in Russian custody. The Russian state information company  (translated on BlueSky by the Heart for Strategic Analysis’s ) reported that the Kaliningrad Inside Ministry and Russian prosecutors despatched a case of “a programmer accused of making a computer virus” to court docket. An nameless supply with data of the matter confirms that Matveev is the programmer.

Matveev can be needed on expenses within the US for launching assaults on US legislation enforcement companies and healthcare organizations way back to 2020. The US State Division is obtainable for info resulting in his seize in Could of final yr when the Division of Justice filed felony expenses towards him. If he’s in Russian custody, the US could not get an opportunity to prosecute him.

Matveev, a Russian nationwide, has hyperlinks to ransomware hacking teams equivalent to Hive, LockBit and Babuk. He’s linked to quite a few assaults together with an April 2021 lockout assault on the techniques of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Division. Greater than a yr later, he allegedly helped launch a Hive ransomware assault on a healthcare NGO in New Jersey.

Assaults from LockBit are significantly damaging and egregious. In late 2022, the group contaminated the pc techniques of 1,400 victims together with a . The Treasury Division’s additionally positioned sanctions towards Matveev for his position in a number of ransomware assaults on US providers and important infrastructure targets. The Justice Division believes Matveev has extracted greater than $75 million from his victims in ransom funds.