In light of the significant threat posed by Russian hacker Mikhail Matveev’s malicious activities, The US Treasury Department has announced a noteworthy reward of $10 million for individuals possessing valuable information that could result in his arrest. Matveev is being held accountable for launching several ransomware attacks on American critical infrastructure, including a non-profit behavioral health center.
Matveev, commonly known as m1x, uhodiransomwar, Wazawaka, and Boriselcin, was recently accused of several charges, including ransom demands, conspiracy to destroy protected computers, ransom demands, and maliciously damaging protected computers. If found guilty, Matveev may be subjected to over 20 years in prison. Additionally, the US Treasury has declared sanctions that disallow Matveev from conducting any financial transactions within the United States. Furthermore, Organizations such as IRS, FBI, and law enforcement in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, France, and the European Union have joined hands in this matter.
Allegedly starting in 2020, Matveev directed his cyber-attack toward medical and law enforcement centers in the United States. It is claimed that he joined up with notorious cybercriminals to deliver ransomware, such as LockBit, Hive, and Babuk.
On June 25, 2020, Russian cybercriminals reportedly launched an attack against a Passaic County law enforcement agency utilizing the LockBit ransomware.
According to reports, Matveev’s April 2021 attack on the Metropolitan Police Department was of particular concern, as he issued a public ultimatum demanding $4 million or else the sensitive information he had compromised would be exposed. Although the department did not yield to his demand, the confidential information was nevertheless leaked onto the web.
In December 2020, the Babuk ransomware was unleashed, wreaking havoc on more than 65 global victims, particularly those in the United States. Collectively, the attackers successfully obtained over $49 million in ransom payments, with specific targets making payments as high as $13 million to regain access to their data.
As the probe goes on, the US Treasury Department is sending a warning to all cyber criminals that such illicit actions will never be tolerated.
