(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a bombshell report, The Department of Justice (DOJ) accused a Russian national of orchestrating one of the most notorious ransomware attacks worldwide since 2019. There is a $10 million reward for his arrest.
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Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Criminal Division Nicole Argentieri declared that 31-year-old Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev from Voronezh, Russia, is accused of masterminding the LockBit attacks.
Khoroshev led these attacks under aliases like LockBitSupp and putinkrab, and allegedly raked in over $100 million in ransom payments from more than 2,000 victims globally.
From individuals to big corporations, law enforcement agencies to entire governments, roughly 2,500 entities across 120 countries have fallen prey to LockBit’s intrusive schemes since September 2019. Shockingly, as per the DOJ’s statement, about 1,800 of these victims reside in the United States alone.
Khoroshev, allegedly pocketing a staggering $100 million from these illicit operations, is facing charges that could land him in prison for a maximum of 185 years.
Moreover, his modus operandi reportedly involved duping victims into paying the ransom, which promised data deletion upon payment, only to betray their trust by holding onto their data or threatening to expose it.
Khoroshev’s charges were unveiled, marking the sixth individual implicated in the LockBit saga, which began in 2022.
Among these, Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov awaits trial in the U.S., while Mikhail Vasiliev, a Russian Canadian, awaits extradition from Canada.
Earlier this year, American and British authorities dealt a significant blow to LockBit by seizing control of its servers and multiple websites, effectively crippling its operations.
FBI Director Christopher Wray emphasized the FBI’s relentless pursuit of ransomware syndicates and its commitment to holding them accountable for their actions.
Interestingly, Khoroshev’s charges coincide with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth inauguration, adding a layer of intrigue to an already convoluted narrative.
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