Russia arrests ransomware attacker Wazawaka
One of the world’s most notorious hackers may end up behind bars. reports that the company associated with the ransomware Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev also known as Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x and Boriselcin has been arrested.
Prosecutors have not confirmed that Matveev has been arrested, but reports indicate that Matveev may be a criminal in Russian custody. Russian news agency (translated to BlueSky by the Center for Strategic Research’s ) reported that the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kaliningrad and Russian prosecutors sent the case of a “programmer accused of creating a malicious program” to court. An anonymous source with knowledge of the matter confirms that Matveev is the editor.
Matveev is also wanted on charges in the US for launching attacks on US law enforcement agencies and health organizations starting in 2020. The US State Department was given information that led to his arrest in May of last year when the Department of Justice filed a criminal investigation. the charges against them. If he is detained in Russia, the US may not have a chance to prosecute him.
Matveev, who is originally from Russia, has links to ransomware hacking groups such as Hive, LockBit and Babuk. He has been linked to multiple attacks including an April 2021 attack on a detention center outside the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department. More than a year later, he allegedly helped launch the Hive ransomware attack on a healthcare NGO in New Jersey.
The attack from LockBit is very damaging and serious. In late 2022, the group infected 1,400 victim computers including . The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions against Matveev for his role in ransomware attacks on US services and critical infrastructure targets. The Department of Justice believes Matveev took more than $75 million from his victims in ransom payments.
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