The U.S. Department of Justice has announced charges against a dual Russian and Canadian national for his alleged participation in LockBit ransomware attacks across the world.
Also found were a text file with instructions to deploy LockBit ransomware, the malware’s source code, and a website that’s believed to be the control panel operated by the group to administer the ransomware.
An analysis of bitcoin payments made to Vasiliev’s wallet purportedly uncovered the receipt of roughly 0.8BTC that originated from a ransom payment that was paid by a LockBit victim in February 2022 to a wallet address provided by the group.
According to statistics from Malwarebytes and NCC Group, LockBit has been linked to over 160 attacks in the months of September and October, with the group accounting for “Almost half of all RaaS activity.”
LockBit 3.0 constituted 35% of the total ransomware attacks targeting industrial organizations in Q3 2022, including chemicals, drilling, industrial supplies, and interior design firms, accounting for 45 out of 128 incidents tracked by Dragos during the time period.
“Since first appearing, LockBit has been deployed against at least as many as 1,000 victims in the United States and around the world,” the DoJ said.
