U.S., U.K. Sanction Members Of Russia-Based Trickbot Cybercrime Gang
The United States, in coordination with the United Kingdom, sanctioned eleven members of the Russia-based Trickbot cybercrime group that has targeted the U.S. Government and U.S. companies.
Concurrently, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed indictments against nine individuals in connection with the Trickbot malware and other ransomware schemes, including seven of the individuals designated.
The individuals targeted by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control are key actors involved in management and procurement for the Trickbot group, including administrators, managers, developers, and coders who have materially assisted the network in its operations.
The designated individuals are Andrey Zhuykov, Maksim Galochkin, Maksim Rudenskiy, Mikhail Tsarev, Dmitry Putilin, Maksim Khaliullin, Sergey Loguntsov, Vadym Valiakhmetov, Artem Kurov, Mikhail Chernov and Alexander Mozhaev.
This designation is part of continued collaborative efforts by the U.S. and the UK to disrupt Russian cybercrime and ransomware, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
In February, the U.S. and the UK had jointly designated some other members of the Trickbot group.
First identified in 2016 by security researchers, Trickbot was a trojan virus that infected millions of victim computers worldwide, including those of U.S. businesses and individuals. It has since evolved into a highly modular malware suite that provides the Trickbot group the ability to conduct a variety of malicious cyber activities, including ransomware. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Trickbot group launched a wave of ransomware disruptions against hospitals and other healthcare centers across the United States.
Members of the Trickbot group are associated with Russian intelligence services. The Trickbot group’s preparations in 2020 aligned them to Russian state objectives and actions taken by the Russian intelligence services. This included targeting the U.S. Government and U.S. companies.
Russia has long been a safe haven for cybercriminals, including the Trickbot group.
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