Britain, US and Australia sanction malicious hackers

Britain, the US and Australia have announced sanctions against 16 people accused of being part of Evil Corp, one of the world’s most notorious cybercrime gangs. Russia-based Evil Corp is accused of stealing about $300 million over nearly a decade. Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has revealed that the gang’s leader, Maksim Yakubets, was supported by his father, Viktor Yakubets.

The information was released as part of a multinational operation to disrupt Evil Corp and another notorious hacking group, LockBit. Evil Corp is known for their mafia-like operations and has been waging a campaign of destructive cyber attacks worldwide for over a decade. In 2019, Maksim Yakubets and another man, Igor Turashev, were sanctioned and a $5 million bounty was placed on Yakubets’ arrest.

The NCA now alleges that Viktor Yakubets was a key part of the cybercrime group and helped the gang launder stolen money. Maksim Yakubets had reportedly lived a playboy lifestyle in Moscow.

Sanctions target the leaders of Evil Corp

In addition, Maksim’s father-in-law, Eduard Benderskiy, a former high-ranking FSB official, has been sanctioned for helping protect and coordinate the group with his connections to Russian security services. Another person sanctioned is Aleksandr Ryzhenkov, described by the NCA as Yakubets’ right-hand man and member of the LockBit ransomware gang. This is the first time a member of Evil Corp has been linked to another major gang, indicating collaboration between hacker groups.

Four arrests were made as part of the sanctions, including two in Britain. In August, the NCA executed search warrants in southern England, arresting a 46-year-old man suspected of links to a LockBit branch and a 50-year-old woman on suspicion of money laundering. “The action announced today has taken place in conjunction with extensive and complex investigations by the NCA into two of the most damaging cybercrime groups of all time,” said James Babbage, director general of threats at the NCA.

The NCA said Evil Corp’s ties to the Russian state had been exposed. “Today’s sanctions send a clear message to the Kremlin that we will not tolerate Russian cyber attacks, either from the state itself or from its cybercriminal ecosystem,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.