Britain imposes sanctions on members of infamous cybercrime gang ‘Evil Corp’ after Lammy calls out Putin’s mafia state

• Britain, alongside the US and Australia, has imposed sanctions on 16 members of the prolific Russian cybercrime gang Evil Corp

• Evil Corp’s malicious cyber activities involve a concerted effort to compromise the UK’s health, government and public institutions.

Cybercriminals linked to Evil Corp, a prolific, long-standing Russian hacker group, have today (October 1) become the target of new UK sanctions, in coordinated action alongside the US and Australia.

Among those facing sanctions today is Maksim Yakubets, who long headed the group’s activities and has a $5 million bounty on his head from the US Department of Justice. Yakubets also cultivated strong ties between Evil Corp and the Russian state, developing relationships with the FSB and Russian Military Intelligence (GRU).

Evil Corp is known for their mafia style and has been waging a campaign of destructive cyber attacks worldwide for over a decade.

This includes malware and ransomware attacks against UK health, government and public institutions, as well as private commercial technology companies. Their attacks have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal profits worldwide.

Those sanctioned today will now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans. Britain is committed to protecting the businesses and livelihoods affected by these vicious attacks.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

I make it my personal mission to attack the Kremlin with the full arsenal of sanctions at our disposal.

Putin has built a corrupt mafia state in which he himself is central. We must fight this at every opportunity, and today’s action is just the beginning.

Today’s sanctions send a clear message to the Kremlin that we will not tolerate Russian cyberattacks – neither from the state itself nor from its cybercriminal ecosystem.

Safety Minister Dan Jarvis said:

Cybercrime causes enormous damage to people and businesses around the world, but today’s action proves that there are serious consequences for those involved.

We will continue to work with our international partners to prosecute and expose malicious cyber activity and protect the public.

These sanctions have occurred in coordination with extensive law enforcement investigations led by the NCA and international law enforcement agencies. This announcement demonstrates our ability to use the full range of government tools to address the threat of cybercrime and disrupt malicious cyber actors originating from the Russian state.

Today’s sanctions build on action taken earlier this year against a leader of the associated cybercrime group LockBit. Together with our allies, we will continue to crack down on malicious cyber activity and cybercrime groups linked to Russia that seek to undermine global integrity, prosperity and security.

Background

Today Britain imposed sanctions:

• Maksim Viktorovich Yakubets

• Artem Viktorovich Yakubets

• Viktor Grigoryevich Yakubets

• Igor Olegovich Turashev

• Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov

• Sergei Viktorovich Ryzhenkov

• Eduard Vitalevich Benderskiy

• Dmitri Konstantinovich Smirnov

• Dmitri Alexeyevich Slobodskoy

• Kirill Alexeyevich Slobodskoy

• Denis Igorievich Gusev

• Ivan Dmitrievich Tuchkov

• Andrei Vechislavovich Plotnitsky

• Alexey Evgenyevich Shchetinin

• Beyat Enverovich Ramazanov

• Vadim Gennadevich Pogodin

1. Since the US designation in 2019, Evil Corp-affiliated actors have continued to operate, rebranding their operations by using various ransomware variants to obfuscate their activities and evade sanctions. This activity included use of and ties to the LockBit ransomware activities. Evil Corp and those involved in its malicious cyber activities remain a threat.

2. These announcements represent the culmination of significant law enforcement investigations led by the NCA and international law enforcement agencies and demonstrate our ability to use the full range of government tools to address the threat of cybercrime and disrupt malicious cyber actors originating from the Russian state.

3. In addition to our sanctions measures, the NCA, FBI and Australian Federal Police released a public document revealing Evil Corp’s ties to the Russian state and their history of attempting to adapt to a changing cyber landscape to maximize damage including by developing groundbreaking new technologies. forms of cybercrime.

4. This package has been announced as Britain participates in the international Counter Ransomware Initiative in the United States, where like-minded countries are working to reduce the risks of malicious cyber activity.