Two Russian nationals have pleaded guilty in a US court to participating as affiliates in the LockBit ransomware scheme and facilitating worldwide ransomware attacks.
Among the accused are 21-year-old Ruslan Magomedovich Astamirov from the Chechen Republic and 34-year-old Mikhail Vasiliev, a citizen of Canada and Russia, from Bradford, Ontario.
Astamirov was there arrested in the state of Arizona by US law enforcement agencies in May 2023. Vasiliev, who is already wanted on similar charges in Canada, was awarded to almost four years in prison. He was extradited to the United States last month.
The development comes more than two months after the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) unmasked A 31-year-old Russian citizen named Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshav as the administrator and developer of the LockBit ransomware operation.
LockBit is estimated to have attacked more than 2,500 entities since its appearance in late 2019, extorting at least around $500 million in ransom from its victims.
Earlier this year, the cybercrime syndicate suffered a major blow after its internet infrastructure was hacked removed as part of a coordinated law enforcement operation called Cronos. The group, however, continues to be active.
The US Department of Justice believes that Vasiliev and Astamirov “will first identify vulnerable computer systems and gain illegal access to them.” said. “They then deploy LockBit ransomware on victims’ computer systems and steal and encrypt stored data.”
“After a successful LockBit attack, LockBit affiliates would demand a ransom from their victims in exchange for decrypting the victims’ data and deleting the stolen data.”
Astamirov (aka BETTERPAY, offtitan and Eastfarmer) is said to have installed LockBit against at least 12 victims between 2020 and 2023, receiving $1.9 million in ransom from victims located in the US state of Virginia, Japan, France , Scotland and Kenya. .
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and wire fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The two-count charges carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Similarly, Vasiliev, who works under the aliases Ghostrider, Free, Digitalocean90, Digitalocean99, Digitalwaters99, Newwave110, installed ransomware against 12 companies in the US states of New Jersey and Michigan, as well as in the UK and Switzerland.
Vasiliev faces up to 45 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and abuse, willful damage to a protected computer, transmission of a threat in connection with damage to a protected computer and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Both defendants will be sentenced on January 8, 2025. is charged with 26 counts earlier in May for leading Operation LockBit, although he remains at large.
“It’s a common misconception that cyber hackers won’t be caught by law enforcement because they’re smarter and smarter than we are,” said James E. Dennehy, FBI special agent in charge of the Newark field office.
“The two members of the LockBit affiliate who pleaded guilty to their crimes in US federal court show that we can stop them and bring them to justice. These criminals believe they can operate with impunity – and are not afraid of being caught because they are in the country where they feel safe and secure.”
