"US and UK Sanction Seven Russian Cybercriminals"

The US and UK governments recently announced joint sanctions against seven Russian cybercriminals.  The individuals targeted by the sanctions are members of the notorious Trickbot malware gang, which the US and UK accuse of launching malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure in both countries, including hospitals.  The sanctioned Russians were named Vitaly Kovalev, Maksim Mikhailov, Valentin Karyagin, Mikhail Iskritskiy, Dmitry Pleshevskiy, Ivan Vakhromeyev, and Valery Sedletski.  The sanctions mean that these cyber threat actors have had all their US and UK assets frozen and are banned from traveling to the two countries.  The US Department of Treasury warned that any individuals or financial institutions engaging in transactions with the sanctioned Russian nationals “may be exposed to designation.”  Trickbot was first identified in 2016, starting life as a banking Trojan, but since evolved into a highly modular malware suite that gives the group the ability to conduct a range of cyber activities, including ransomware attacks.  Both the US and UK governments highlighted the gang’s involvement in developing ransomware strains targeting critical services as the principal reason for the coordinated designation.

Infosecurity reports: "US and UK Sanction Seven Russian Cybercriminals"