US Attorneys have charged three Russian nationals and two web hosts with hacking, conspiracy and money laundering for their alleged roles in hosting cyberattacks that caused tens of millions of dollars in damage to US businesses.
The three Russians, Alexander Volosovik, Kirill Zatolokin and Yulia Pankova, who live in St. Petersburg, are accused of owning and operating two web hosts, Media Land and ML.Cloud, which allegedly provided criminals and state-sponsored hackers with web hosting and infrastructure support to carry out cyber attacks.
The Russians were first charged in 2024, but the indictment was unsealed this week. The US Treasury had sanctioned Media Land and ML.Cloud for allowing ransomware gangs including LockBit, BlackSuit and Play to use their infrastructure. The economic sanctions prohibit Americans and American companies from doing business with the Russians or their companies.
Prosecutors said the hackers used the web hosts to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks designed to knock websites and services offline, launch phishing attacks and launch cyberattacks on critical infrastructure in the United States.
Hackers used the companies to launch attacks on dozens of US businesses in more than 20 states, reaping an estimated $62 million in cybercrime proceeds.
According to the Department of Justice, by offering their services as a “bulletproof” web host, the companies deliberately aimed to protect their customers from law enforcement demands and takedowns.
Web hosting suspects are unlikely to be caught since the hackers are based in Russia and US releases are rare. Russia is known to protect its citizens from extradition requests abroad, but law enforcement has done so before arrested high value suspects when traveling to countries with diplomatic agreements with the United States.
In a statement, Assistant US Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said the web hosts’ actions “put the American public at risk,” adding, “We will continue to dismantle these networks and protect our critical infrastructure from cybercriminals at home and abroad.”
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