On October 1, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on seven individuals and two entities connected to Evil Corp, a cybercrime group based in Russia. These sanctions were announced alongside an indictment from the U.S. Justice Department against one of Evil Corp’s members, as well as additional measures from the U.K. and Australia. According to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, Evil Corp is responsible for creating and spreading the Dridex malware.
Miller stated that Evil Corp has used the Dridex malware to infect computers and steal login credentials from hundreds of banks and financial institutions in over 40 countries, resulting in more than $100 million in theft and damage. The leader and founder of Evil Corp, Maksim Yakubets, was previously sanctioned by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2019. At the same time, the Justice Department indicted Yakubets and another member of Evil Corp, and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to their capture and conviction.
Bradley Smith, a Treasury official, emphasized the importance of this trilateral action in protecting against cybercriminals like ransomware actors who pose a threat to critical infrastructure and citizens. The Treasury also noted that Yakubets and other members of Evil Corp have ties to Russian politicians and government figures. Yakubets is also employed at the Russian National Engineering Corporation (NIK), which the Treasury says he uses as a cover for his criminal activities related to Evil Corp.
The U.K.’s National Crime Agency added that one of the newly sanctioned members of Evil Corp, Eduard Benderskiy, is a former member of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and has used his influence with the Russian state to protect the group. The U.K. also stated that prior to 2019, Russian intelligence had tasked Evil Corp with conducting cyber attacks and espionage against NATO allies.
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