Aeza Group is a bulletproof hosting (BPH) services provider, the department said, that allows cybercriminals to avoid law enforcement while renting IP addresses, servers and domains used for disseminating malware, supporting darknet markets and carrying out other tasks related to fraud and cyberattacks. Russian national Aleksandr Grichishkin was handed a five-year sentence in 2021 for founding and operating a bulletproof hosting company while Pavel Stassi, 30, of Estonia, and Aleksandr Shorodumov, 33, of Lithuania, were both sentenced to more than two years in prison for running a bulletproof hosting organization that helped launch attacks against U.S. targets between 2009 and 2015. “Cybercriminals continue to rely heavily on BPH service providers like Aeza Group to facilitate disruptive ransomware attacks, steal U.S. technology, and sell black-market drugs,” said Bradley Smith, acting undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. In February, the Treasury Department partnered with officials in Australia and the U.K. to sanction another Russian bulletproof hosting service called Zservers as well as the Russian nationals behind the company. A man suspected of owning a bulletproof hosting company was arrested in Spain last October amid a wider operation targeting one of the main members of the Evil Corp cybercrime group and a LockBit affiliate. Multiple Aeza Group leaders were arrested in April by Russian authorities on suspicion of leading a criminal organization and involvement in large-scale drug trafficking. In addition to targeting Aeza Group, Treasury officials said they are sanctioning two affiliated companies and four individuals who are company leaders. The Treasury Department accused Aeza Group of helping hackers target U.S. defense companies and technology firms. A Russia-based company providing technical tools to ransomware gangs and digital drug dealers was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday. Penzev has allegedly been involved in multiple bulletproof hosting and illicit drug marketplace businesses. Cybersecurity researchers have previously linked Aeza Group to the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign known as Doppelgänger, which has been active in Europe since at least 2022.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Tue, 01 Jul 2025 17:50:05 +0000