The United States and United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on seven members of the Russian hacking collective Trickbot.
Trikbot, which dates back to at least 2016, began life as a trojan virus designed to teal financial data and has since evolved into a highly modular malware suite used for, among other things, ransomware attacks.
According to US and UK officials, current members of the Trickbot Group are associated with Russian Intelligence Services and have aligned the gang's actions with Russian state objectives - including targeting the US government and US companies.
The seven people targeted by sanctions - Vitaly Kovalev, Valery Sedletski, Valentin Karyagin, Maksim Mikhailov, Dmitry Pleshevskiy, Mikhail Iskritskiy and Ivan Vakhromeyev — have had assets frozen, travel bans imposed, and are barred from transacting with US organizations.
One of the seven, Kovalev, has also been charged in the US with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and eight counts of bank fraud in connection with a series of intrusions into victim bank accounts held at various US-based financial institutions that occurred in 2009 and 2010.
“Cyber criminals, particularly those based in Russia, seek to attack critical infrastructure, target U.S. businesses, and exploit the international financial system,” says Under Secretary Brian Nelson. “The United States is taking action today in partnership with the United Kingdom because international cooperation is key to addressing Russian cybercrime.”
Want to see more fintech opportunities? Visit the Finextra Job Board for hundreds more roles, and bookmark the link for regular check-ins.