And the US Department of Justice said in a statement that Mikhail Matveev has been accused of using electronic ransomware, such as “Lockbit”, “Babook” and “Hive”, to attack targets in the United States since Russia with the intention of obtaining from its victims financial ransoms amounting to a total value of 200 million dollars.
The statement quotes Philip Selinger, the New Jersey federal prosecutor, as saying that the hacker “encrypted the data of numerous victims, particularly hospitals, schools, associations and police units”, including the Washington police, and asked the owners for sums of money. in exchange for their release.
The ministry added that the hacker used several pseudonyms, including “Wazawaka”, “M1X” and “Boresylcin”.
Internet hackers use ransomware to penetrate vulnerable information systems and encrypt or steal their data.
After that, the hackers ask the owners of these systems to pay a financial ransom in exchange for decrypting this encryption, at the risk of publishing it or not decrypting it.
The US State Department offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
If found guilty, Mikhail Matveev faces up to 20 years in prison.
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