One of the most wanted pirates in the world has just been apprehended by Russian authorities. The 32-year-old was arrested in Kaliningrad, a territory of the Russian Federation which is located between Poland and Lithuania.
According to the Moscow authoritiesthis hacker is suspected of having orchestrated attacks against banks, hospitals and energy networks, mainly in the United States. He operated in the shadows under different pseudonyms such as “Boriscelcin”, “ShadowHacker” and “Wazawaka”. He offered computer hacking software tools for sale. His online stage names were often cited by cybercriminal collectives specializing in ransomwarewho repeatedly requested his skills in order to carry out their online blackmail. Cyberattacks which have also brought in several million dollars for mafia organizations.
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An arrest that raises some questions
The fact that the Russian authorities decided to apprehend and try him on their territory raises questions. Is this a real intention of the Kremlin to cooperate with Western authorities in the fight against cybercrime which is becoming global? Or is this hacker also behind attacks allegedly carried out against companies and institutions on the territory of the Russian Federation? Impossible for the moment to determine, explains Damien Bancal, cybersecurity expert and founder of the site Zataz who had been tracking this cybercriminal with an atypical background for some time now: “ He is the instigator of several groups of computer hackers, one of the best known of which is LockBit. To apprehend him, the Russian authorities only had to read the information disseminated by the FBI when the United States offered a $10 million reward for his capture. A word from the personality of the hacker who had an unfortunate tendency to boast on cybercriminal sites and forums. For example, when the FBI published his photo in its wanted poster, they published t-shirts with his image. “I’m selling them to you. I’m not afraid of anything. They’ll never come and get me,” the pirate boasted on social media. What does he risk? If it's like other hackers linked to hacker group REvilwho were just tried a few days ago in Moscow, the prison sentences handed down against them did not exceed six years. However, the king of ransomware may become a bargaining chip at a time when the West, Russia and Ukraine begin to think about peace. Russia can use it as a bargaining chip to reduce the war damage it has caused. The other possibility would possibly be to recover interesting information in the hacker's possession so that Moscow can continue to carry out its hybrid warfare against the West. »
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No extradition treaty between Russia and the United States
And suffice to say that the chance that Matveev will be able to answer for his actions before an American court is rather low, if not non-existent. If Russia has often been accused by the EU of harboring hackers acting for political or economic reasons in the name of the Kremlin, this time its case would be a little different. The cybercriminal, undoubtedly acting a little too independently in the eyes of the authorities, probably convinced Moscow to put him in the shade, failing to be able to control his malicious actions.
Also readCyber, a “weapon of employment” for Russia
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