The U.S. indicted Russian national Amin Timovich Stigal for his alleged role in cyberattacks targeting Ukrainian government computer networks in an operation from the Russian foreign military intelligence agency prior to invading the country.
The announcement from the Department of Justice says that in January 2022 Stigal and members of the GRU used a U.S.-based company to distribute the WhisperGate pseudo-ransomware to systems at dozens of Ukrainian government entities to destroy data.
A Microsoft analysis at the time showed that although WhisperGate demanded a payment of $10,000 in Bitcoin, it practically acted as a data wiper that corrupted all disk partitions beyond restoration.
Apart from data wiping attacks, Stigal was also involved in exfiltrating sensitive data and leaking information to instill fear and uncertainty in Ukraine.
This activity was a precursor to Russia's invasion of Ukraine but later it externded to more countries that expressed their support for Ukraine, including the United States.
In August 2022, Stigal and others hacked into the transportation infrastructure of a country in Central Europe.
According to the indictment, the GRU's hacker was also involved in probing computers at a federal government agency in Maryland, in an attack that relied on the same infrastructure used to compromise Ukraine's government computers.
Rewards for Justice also announced a $10 million reward for the GRU hacker, providing a strong incentive for anyone holding information about Stigal's whereabouts to share them with the authorities in a secure manner, over the Tor network.
If arrested and convicted, Stigal faces a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison for his participation in cyberattacks against Ukraine, the U.S., and other NATO member countries.
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This Cyber News was published on www.bleepingcomputer.com. Publication date: Thu, 27 Jun 2024 19:35:17 +0000