Security News > 2024 > March > LockBit ransomware kingpin gets 4 years behind bars
A LockBit ransomware kingpin has been sentenced to almost four years behind bars and ordered to pay more than CA$860,000 in restitution to some of his victims by a Canadian court as he awaits extradition to the US. During a sentencing hearing this week, Justice Michelle Fuerst said 34-year-old Mikhail Vasiliev was a cyber-terrorist who was "Motivated by his own greed," according to CTV News.
Vasiliev, a dual Canadian-Russian national living in Bradford, Ontario, pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of cyber-extortion, mischief, and weapons charges against Canadian victims, including businesses in Saskatchewan, Montreal, and Newfoundland.
In addition to Vasiliev, just two other suspects - Ruslan Astamirov and Mikhail Matveev - have been named, and of those two only Astamirov has been arrested and charged with infecting victims with LockBit ransomware.
According to court documents [PDF], Canadian cops searched Vasiliev's home in August 2022 and discovered a file, cleverly named "TARGETLIST," on his gear containing a list of names that appeared to be prospective or historical cybercrime victims.
Law enforcement also found screenshots of Tor messages exchanged between Vasiliev and LockBitSupp, along with a text file containing instructions on how to deploy LockBit ransomware and source code for a program designed to encrypt data stored on Linux-based computers.
Vasiliev's lawyer, Louis Strezos, told a Canadian court Vasiliev leaned into cybercrime while stuck at home, during the pandemic, according to CTV News.