GovWire

• the UK sanctions 16 members of prolific Russian cyber-crime gang Evil Corp, alongside the US and Australia

• Evil Corps malicious cyber activity involved a concerted effort to compromise UK health, government and public sector institutions

Cybercriminals connected to Evil Corp, a prolific, long-standing Russian hacker group, have today (1 October) been targeted with new UK sanctions, in coordinated action alongside the US and Australia.

Among those sanctioned today is Maksim Yakubets, who long led the groups operations and has a $5 million bounty on his head by the US Department of Justice. Yakubets also cultivated strong ties between Evil Corp and the Russian state, developing relationships with the FSB and Russian military intelligence (GRU).

Known for their Mafia style of operation, Evil Corp has waged a campaign of destructive cyber-attacks worldwide for over a decade.

This includes malware and ransomware attacks against UK health, government and public sector institutions, as well as private commercial technology companies. Their attacks have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits worldwide.

Those sanctioned today will now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans. The UK is committed to protecting the businesses and livelihoods affected by these cruel attacks.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said:

I am making it my personal mission to target the Kremlin with the full arsenal of sanctions at our disposal.

Putin has built a corrupt mafia state with himself at its centre. We must combat this at every turn, and todays action is just the beginning.

Todays sanctions send a clear message to the Kremlin that we will not tolerate Russian cyber-attacks - whether from the state itself or from its cyber-criminal ecosystem.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said:

Cyber-crime causes immense damage to people and business across the world but todays action is evidence that there are serious consequences for those involved.

We will continue to work with our international partners to pursue and expose malicious cyber activity and protect the public.

These sanctions have taken place in coordination with significant law enforcement investigations led by the NCA and law enforcement agencies internationally. This announcement demonstrates our ability to use the full range of government tools to target the threat from cybercrime and disrupt malicious cyber actors emanating from the Russian state.

Todays sanctions build on the action taken earlier this year against a leader of associated cyber-crime group LockBit. Alongside our allies, we will continue to crack down on malicious cyber activity and cyber-crime groups with links to Russia that seek to undermine global integrity, prosperity and security.

Background

Today the UK has sanctioned:

• Maksim Viktorovich Yakubets

• Artem Viktorovich Yakubets

• Viktor Grigoryevich Yakubets

• Igor Olegovich Turashev

• Aleksandr Viktorovich Ryzhenkov

• Sergey Viktorovich Ryzhenkov

• Eduard Vitalevich Benderskiy

• Dmitry Konstantinovich Smirnov

• Dmitriy Alekseyevich Slobodskoy

• Kirill Alekseyevich Slobodskoy

• Denis Igorevich Gusev

• Ivan Dmitriyevich Tuchkov

• Andrey Vechislavovich Plotnitskiy

• Aleksey Evgenyevich Shchetinin

• Beyat Enverovich Ramazanov

• Vadim Gennadyevich Pogodin

Since designation by the US in 2019, Evil Corp-affiliated actors have continued to operate, rebranding their activity by using different ransomware variants to obfuscate their activity and evade sanctions. This activity included the use of and affiliation with LockBit ransomware operations. Evil Corp and those involved in its malicious cyber activity remain a threat.

These announcements represent the culmination of significant law enforcement investigations led by the NCA and law enforcement agencies internationally and demonstrate our ability to use the full range of government tools to target the threat from cybercrime and disrupt malicious cyber actors emanating from the Russian state.

Alongside our sanctions action, the NCA, FBI and Australian Federal Police have released a public document revealing Evil Corps ties to the Russian state and their history of trying to adapt to a changing cyber landscape to cause as much harm as possible, including by pioneering new forms of cyber-crime.

This package has been announced as the UK is attending the international Counter Ransomware Initiative in the United States, where like-minded countries are working to mitigate the risks of malicious cyber activity.