A Russian-Canadian man from Ontario is in police custody and awaiting extradition to the United States for his alleged participation in a global ransomware campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
Mikhail Vasiliev, a 33-year-old dual Russian and Canadian national from Bradford, Ont., is charged with conspiracy to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands in connection with his alleged role in the LockBit global ransomware scheme, the department said in a press release.
LockBit is a ransomware variant that has made at least $100 million in ransom demands and extracted tens of millions of dollars in actual payments from victims, according to a court document filed in the District of New Jersey. It first appeared as early as January 2020 and members of the conspiracy have since executed at least 1,000 LockBit attacks against victims in the U.S. and around the world, the document alleged….