DOJ extradites Russian ransomware suspect over $16M scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the extradition of Russian national Evgenii Ptitsyn from South Korea to face charges related to the Phobos ransomware operation.
The DOJ alleges Ptitsyn was involved in a widespread scheme involving the sale and distribution of Phobos ransomware, which extorted over $16 million from more than 1,000 victims globally, including schools, healthcare institutions, and government agencies.
Phobos, active since 2019, uses a ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model that allows affiliates to launch attacks by exploiting vulnerable systems through methods such as phishing emails with malicious attachments and brute-force attacks on unsecured Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) ports.
Once a network is breached, Phobos encrypts files and demands significant ransom payments.
“Each deployment of Phobos ransomware was assigned a unique alphanumeric string in order to match it to the corresponding decryption key, and each affiliate was directed to pay the decryption key fee to a cryptocurrency wallet unique to that affiliate,” the DOJ stated.
Between December 2021 and April 2024, payments were reportedly directed to a wallet controlled by Ptitsyn.
Ptitsyn now faces a 13-count indictment, including charges of wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, intentional damage to protected computers, and extortion related to hacking.
The DOJ indicated that he could receive up to 20 years in prison for each wire fraud charge, 10 years for each computer hacking count, and five years for conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse.
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