Russia arrests ransomware attacker Wazawaka

One of many world’s most infamous hackers might lastly be in custody.  experiences that ransomware affiliate Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev often known as Wazawaka, Uhodiransomwar, m1x and Boriselcin has been arrested.

Prosecutors haven’t confirmed if Matveev is below arrest, however experiences point out that Matveev could be the hacker in Russian custody. The Russian state information company  (translated on BlueSky by the Middle for Strategic Analysis’s ) reported that the Kaliningrad Inside Ministry and Russian prosecutors despatched a case of “a programmer accused of making a computer virus” to court docket. An nameless supply with information of the matter confirms that Matveev is the programmer.

Matveev can be wished on prices within the US for launching assaults on US regulation enforcement businesses and healthcare organizations way back to 2020. The US State Division is obtainable for info resulting in his seize in Might of final yr when the Division of Justice filed felony prices in opposition to him. If he’s in Russian custody, the US could not get an opportunity to prosecute him.

Matveev, a Russian nationwide, has hyperlinks to ransomware hacking teams resembling Hive, LockBit and Babuk. He’s linked to various assaults together with an April 2021 lockout assault on the methods of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Division. Greater than a yr later, he allegedly helped launch a Hive ransomware assault on a healthcare NGO in New Jersey.

Assaults from LockBit are significantly harmful and egregious. In late 2022, the group contaminated the pc methods of 1,400 victims together with a . The Treasury Division’s additionally positioned sanctions in opposition to Matveev for his position in a number of ransomware assaults on US providers and significant infrastructure targets. The Justice Division believes Matveev has extracted greater than $75 million from his victims in ransom funds.