US charges Ukrainian and Russian in major ransomware spree, seizes $6 million
The U.S. Justice Department charged a Ukraine national and a Russian in one of the worst ransomware attacks against American targets, court filings showed.
The latest U.S. actions follow a slew of measures taken to combat a surge in ransomware that has struck several big companies, including an attack on the largest fuel pipeline in the United States that crippled fuel delivery for several days.
An indictment accused Ukrainian Yaroslav Vasinskyi, who was arrested in Poland last month, of breaking into Florida software provider Kaseya over the July 4 weekend.
From there, he and accomplices simultaneously distributed REvil ransomware to as many as 1,500 Kaseya customers, encrypting their data and forcing some to shut down for days, it said.