US, UK, Australia Sanction Russian Provider for Ransomware Attacks
The U.S., the U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned Zservers, a Russia-based internet infrastructure service provider, for supporting Russian ransomware attacks, the Treasury Department said. Treasury said Zservers specifically aids Russia-based LockBit, which the U.S. has called one of the world’s most active ransomware groups (see 2405070020).
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The agency said Zservers is a “bulletproof hosting” services provider, one that sells access to specialized servers and other computer infrastructure designed to evade law enforcement. Bradley Smith, Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said cybercriminals rely on third-party service providers like Zservers to “enable their attacks on U.S. and international critical infrastructure.”
Treasury also sanctioned two Russian nationals who are “key administrators” of Zservers: Alexander Igorevich Mishin and Aleksandr Sergeyevich Bolshakov.
The U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation sanctioned several others with ties to Zservers, including Vladimir Vladimirovich Ananev, Dmitry Konstantinovich Bolshakov, Igor Vladimirovich Odintsov, Ilya Vladimirovich Sidorov and Xhost Internet Solutions LP, an entity working on behalf of Zservers by supplying technology that contributes to cyberattacks.
Australia said it imposed sanctions against Zservers along with five Russian "cybercriminals," including Aleksandr Bolshakov, Dmitry Bolshakov and Mishin, Sidorov and Odintsov.