A former Canadian authorities worker accused of finishing up dozens of ransomware assaults has been extradited to the USA, with greater than $28 million in bitcoin seized in reference to the case.
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, who labored as an IT guide for Public Works and Authorities Companies in Canada, based on his LinkedIn profile, was extradited to the U.S. on Wednesday, the place he’ll face a number of costs associated to his alleged participation with the NetWalker ransomware group, the U.S. Justice Division announced this week.
NetWalker, also referred to as “Mailto,” is a prolific ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation that enlists associates to deploy ransomware in return for a share of the ransom cost. The group first surfaced in 2019 and has since been linked to a number of high-profile assaults. In June 2020, the group focused the College of California San Francisco, which paid a ransom of greater than $1 million. Three months later, NetWalker hit cyber threat startup Cygilant.
The RaaS operation additionally focused Argentina’s immigration company, Pakistan’s largest non-public energy utility and, throughout the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, quite a lot of hospitals and legislation enforcement businesses. Between August 2019 and January 2021, ransomware assaults involving NetWalker pulled $46 million in ransom funds, based on cryptocurrency analysis firm Chainalysis.
Vachon-Desjardins was arrested by Canadian police in January 2021 as a part of a global legislation enforcement marketing campaign concentrating on the NetWalker ransomware group. Throughout a search of his residence in Quebec, officers discovered 719 bitcoin, valued at roughly $28.1 million on the time of writing, and $790,000 in Canadian forex. Authorities within the U.S. and Belgium additionally seized the dark web site utilized by NetWalker to publish knowledge stolen from victims.
On the time, Vachon-Desjardins was sentenced in a Canadian courtroom to seven years in jail after pleading responsible to 5 costs associated to the theft of pc knowledge, extortion, the cost of cryptocurrency ransoms and taking part within the actions of a prison group.
With Vachon-Desjardins now within the U.S., he faces additional costs that accuse him of conspiracy to commit pc fraud and wire fraud, intentional harm to a protected pc and transmitting a requirement in relation to damaging a protected pc.
If convicted, he could also be required to forfeit greater than $27 million for his involvement with the NetWalker ransomware gang.
“As exemplified by the seizure of cryptocurrency by our Canadian companions, we’ll use all legally obtainable avenues to pursue seizure and forfeiture of the alleged proceeds of ransomware, whether or not situated domestically or overseas,” stated assistant legal professional common Kenneth Well mannered Jr. “The division is not going to stop to pursue and seize cryptocurrency ransoms, thereby thwarting the makes an attempt of ransomware actors to evade legislation enforcement by means of using digital forex.”
Information of Vachon-Desjardins’ extradition comes simply days after a member of the REvil ransomware group was arrested and extradited to Texas to face U.S. costs for his alleged involvement within the Kaseya hack.
REvil hacker accused of Kaseya ransomware attack arrested and extradited to the US
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