Security News > 2023 > May > Russian ransomware affiliate charged with attacks on critical infrastructure

The U.S. Justice Department has filed charges against a Russian citizen named Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev for involvement in three ransomware operations that targeted victims across the United States.

"Matveev is responsible for multiple ransomware variants as an affiliate and has actively targeted U.S. businesses and critical infrastructure," FBI Special Agent James E. Dennehy said in a press conference today.

"The attacks on critical infrastructure involved two law enforcement agencies, the Prospect Park Police Department, here in New Jersey, and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC.".

Mikhail Matveev was also sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control for launching cyberattacks against U.S. entities, including U.S. critical infrastructure organizations and law enforcement.

In June 2020, Matveev and LockBit coconspirators allegedly deployed LockBit ransomware on the network of a law enforcement agency in Passaic County, New Jersey.

In April 2021, the defendant and Babuk ransomware coconspirators allegedly deployed malicious payloads on the systems of the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. In May 2022, Matveev and Hive ransomware gang members allegedly encrypted the systems of a nonprofit behavioral healthcare organization headquartered in Mercer County, New Jersey.

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https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/russian-ransomware-affiliate-charged-with-attacks-on-critical-infrastructure/