US indicts two Russian citizens in bust of Lockbit cybercrime gang

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States charged two Russian nationals on Tuesday with deploying Lockbit ransomware against companies and groups around the world, the Justice Department announced.

The indictment was made public as the US, UK and other international law enforcement partners gathered in London to announce the dismantling of the notorious Lockbit cybercrime ring, which targeted more than 2,000 victims worldwide, extorting 120 in ransom payments. Received over million dollars and demanded hundreds of crores. Of dollars, the department said.

The UK National Crime Agency Cyber ​​Division, in collaboration with the US Department of Justice, the FBI and other law enforcement, seized control of websites used by Lockbit in a rare international operation, the gang and US and UK officials said.

Deputy US Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “Working with partners in the United Kingdom and around the world, we have now destroyed the online backbone of the Lockbit Group, one of the largest ransomware gangs in the world.” “But our work doesn’t stop there: together with our partners, we are changing the situation on Lockbit – providing decryption keys, unlocking victim data and pursuing Lockbit’s criminal associates around the world.”

The unsealed indictment, unsealed in New Jersey, charges Artur Tsungatov and Ivan Kondratyev, also known as Bastarlord, with manufacturing, logistics, insurance and other companies in five states and Puerto Rico, as well as semiconductor and other It has been accused of using Lockbit ransomware to target victims. Industries around the world.

The Justice Department said additional criminal charges were unsealed Tuesday against Kondratyev related to his 2020 use of ransomware against a victim in California.

(Reporting by Katherine Jackson and Karen Freifeld; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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