Member of ransomware gang sentenced to more than 13 years in prison over 2021 attack
By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN
(CNN) — A Ukrainian national was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 13 years in prison and ordered to pay $16 million in restitution for helping to conduct a 2021 ransomware attack that infected hundreds of businesses in the US and abroad.
Yaroslav Vasinskyi, 24, who is associated with the ransomware gang REvil, played a role in conducting over 2,500 ransomware attacks and demanding over $700 million in ransom payments, according to a Justice Department news release.
CNN reported in 2021 that Vasinskyi had been accused of deploying ransomware on Florida-based software firm Kaseya. Along with other alleged REvil operatives, he demanded millions of dollars in payment to stop the attack, prosecutors said.
The ransomware infected up to 1,500 businesses around the world, forcing some to shut down for days, in a hack that underscored how ransomware groups can exploit supply-chain dependencies to disrupt businesses.
Vasinskyi, also known as Rabotnik, was 22 when he was arrested in Poland and extradited to the US. He previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department said.
“Deploying the REvil ransomware variant, the defendant reached out across the globe to demand hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. victims,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement, adding that the DOJ is committed to “bringing to justice those who target U.S. victims, and we are disrupting the broader cybercrime ecosystem.”
CNN reported in 2021 that Vasinskyi was charged alongside alleged fellow REvil operative, Russian national Yevgeniy Polyanin. Authorities seized at least $6 million in funds allegedly linked to ransom payments received by Polyanin as part of their investigation, US officials said at the time.
The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on Vasinskyi and Polyanin in 2021, as well as on a cryptocurrency exchange that allegedly moved money for ransomware operatives.
CNN’s Sean Lyngaas and Jack Forrest contributed to this report.
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