US sanctions Russia-based cybercrime group 'Evil Corp.'

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Oct.

1 against seven individuals and two entities associated with Evil Corp, a Russia-based cybercrime group. The Treasury's sanctions coincided with an indictment from the U.S.

Justice Department against an Evil Corp member, as well as additional measures from the U.K. and Australia. According to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, Evil Corp is "responsible for the development and distribution of the Dridex malware." "Evil Corp has used the Dridex malware to infect computers and harvest login credentials from hundreds of banks and other financial institutions in over 40 countries, resulting in more than £100 million in theft losses and damage suffered by U.S. and international financial institutions and their customers," Miller added.

Evil Corp's leader and founder, Maksim Yakubets, was first sanctioned by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2019. At the same time, the Justice Department indicted Yakubets and another Evil Corp member and issued a £5 million reward for information leading to their capture and subsequent conviction. "Today's trilateral action underscores our collective commitment to safeguard against cybercriminals like ransomware actors, who seek to undermine our critical infrastructure and threaten our citizens," said Treasury official Bradley Smith.

In its statement, the Treasury noted that Yakubets and other Evil Corp members have links to Russian politicians and other government figures. Yakubets is also employed at the Russian National Engineering Corporation (NIK), which the Treasury said he uses as a "cover for his ongoing criminal activities linked to Evil Corp." The U.K.'s National Crime Agency further said that one of the newly sanctioned Evil Corp members, Eduard Benderskiy, a former member of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), "used his extensive influence with the Russian state to protect the group."

Prior to 2019, Russian intelligence "tasked Evil Corp to conduct cyber attacks and espionage operations against NATO allies," the U.K. said.

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