Rabotnik, linked to REvil ransomware, conducted 2500 attacks totaling $700 million, leading to a 13-year sentence. The DOJ crackdown underscores the global fight against cybercrime.
On Wednesday, the Department of Justice announced a 13-year and seven-month sentence for Ukrainian national Yaroslav Vasinskyi. It is also known as Rabotnik.
Robotnik conducted over 2500 ransomware attacks and demanded almost $700 million in ransom payment. The court ordered him to pay $16 million in restitution.
The sentencing is a joint effort to crack down on groups, of which Joe Biden, US president, made a promise in November 2021. This pledge followed an incident where REvil demanded $70 million in bitcoin (BTC) after hacking Kaseya, a software provider based in Miami.
Russia conducted a raid and dismantled REvil operations at the request of the United States on March 22.
“As this sentencing shows, the Justice Department is working with our international partners and using all tools at our disposal to identify cybercriminals, capture their illicit profits, and hold them accountable for their crimes,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland
Authorities extradited Robotnik from Poland to the United States, where he faced guilt on an 11-point charge “conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
In 2023, the Department of Justice seized almost 40 bitcoins, which are currently valued at about $2.3 million. Additionally, they confiscated $6.1 million in money linked to ransom payments received by other people involved in the scheme.
