33-year-old Russian Mikhail Vasiliev, suspected of hacking attacks on critical infrastructure and large companies around the world, was arrested in Canada, reportedly United States Department of Justice.
How in shape Techcrunch, citing a canceled Europol press release, Russian and Canadian citizen Mikhail Vasiliev was arrested in Ontario on October 26. He is currently awaiting extradition to the United States. The inmate is suspected of using the LockBit ransomware virus. The police confiscated 8 computers, 32 external hard drives and 400,000 euros in cryptocurrencies from Vasiliev.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the ransomware appeared in January 2020. Since then, members of the LockBit group have managed to earn around $ 100 million by extorting around 1,000 victims worldwide. The investigation believes that Vasiliev is a member of LockBit. He is accused of conspiring to deliberately damage protected computers and file ransom demands. He faces up to five years of imprisonment.
Among those affected by LockBit are Taiwanese largest company Foxconn, British healthcare provider Advanced, and consultancy Accenture, according to Techcrunch. According to the publication, the international industrial company Thales Group, which produces information systems for aerospace, military and maritime applications, was attacked on 31 October. Today, November 10, the publication confirmed that German tire and automotive electronics manufacturer Continental was also the target of a hacker attack.
