How Ransomware Criminals Are Protected in Russia

 

Worldwide attacks of online extortion called ransomware is hurting local governments, hospitals, and businesses.

In such attacks, criminals infect the computer systems of organizations with bad software. The software hijacks¹ data files and leaves them unreadable. The attacker then demands payment in exchange for returning the data to a readable state.

Law enforcement has been largely powerless to stop it.

Ransomware attacks mostly come from Russian-speaking cybercriminals. Security researchers and U.S. law enforcement say some of these criminals are protected, and sometimes even employed by, Russian intelligence services.

The administration of President Joe Biden has taken new action against Russia in an effort to reduce such crimes.

On Thursday, the U.S. placed sanctions on the Russian government. The Treasury² Department said Russian intelligence has permitted ransomware attacks by supporting and protecting criminal hackers³. The costs of ransomware attacks have reached into the tens of billions of dollars.

The value of Russian protection is not lost on the cybercriminals themselves. Earlier this year, experts found a Russian-language website about a cybercriminal known as "Bugatti." Bugatti's group of hackers had been caught by U.S.-Interpol investigators⁵.

Members of the website accused Bugatti of being technically⁶ careless. Even worse, some said, Bugatti had permitted Western authorities to seize ransomware servers that could have been protected in Russia instead.

"Mother Russia will help you," the member wrote. "Love your country and nothing will happen to you."

"Like almost any major industry in Russia, (cybercriminals) work kind of with the tacit consent, sometimes explicit⁷ consent, of the security services," said Michael van Landingham. He is a former CIA computer expert.

Russian officials have one rule, said Karen Kazaryan, head of the Internet Research Institute in Moscow. "Just don't ever work against your country and businesses in this country," Kazaryan said. "If you steal something from Americans, that's fine."

There is no evidence that the Russian government receives money from ransomware crime. But experts say President Vladimir Putin may see the problems caused by attacks as helping⁸ Russia in some way.

Last year in the U.S. alone, ransomware attacked more than a hundred federal, state and local agencies. In addition, attacks hit about 500 hospitals and other health care centers, around 1,680 schools, colleges and universities and hundreds of businesses, said cybersecurity company Emsisoft.

Some cybercriminals have demanded as much as $50 million to give back data. If the victims do not pay, the criminals may publish their data on the internet.

The idea that the Russian government assists cybercriminals is nothing new, said Adam Hickey, a U.S. deputy assistant attorney general. He noted⁹ that cybercrime can provide good cover for espionage¹⁰.

Back in the 1990s, Russian intelligence employed criminal hackers for that purpose, the Internet Research Institute's Kazaryan said. He added that many of those hackers are now working as ransomware criminals.

Russia sometimes hires arrested criminal hackers by offering them a choice between prison and working for the state, said Dmitri Alperovitch. He is the former chief technical officer for the cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.

A Russian Embassy spokesman would not answer questions about his government's possible ties to ransomware criminals.

At least one ransomware criminal has been linked to the Russian government. Maksim Yakubets is head of an organization called "Evil Corp." The 33-year-old worked for the FSB security service as a computer expert in 2017. The U.S. has accused him of being a major ransomware criminal and offered $5 million for information on his whereabouts.

The U.S. Treasury says he has stolen at least $100 million from cybercrimes in more than 40 countries.

Many experts believe that while this week's U.S. sanctions send a strong message, they will likely not lead to any changes unless there is a real financial cost to Russia.

Another possible way to stop cybercrimes has been identified: allied¹¹ countries could identify the banks that accept ransomware money and cut them off from the worldwide banking¹² system.

Following the money, and stopping criminals from getting it, would "go a long way in stopping ransomware attacks," said John Riggi. He is a cybersecurity expert at the American Hospital Association and a former FBI official.

Words in This Story

extortion – n. the crime of getting money from someone by the use of force or threats

sanctions – n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country,

hacker⁴ – n. a person who secretly gets access to a computer system in order to get information, cause damage,

tacit – adj. expressed or understood without being directly stated

consent – n. to give permission for something to happen or be done

explicit – adj. very clear and complete

espionage – n. the things that are done to find out secrets from enemies or competitors

1 hijacks   

劫持( hijack的名词复数 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• Just as life infiltrates matter mercilessly and then hijacks it forever, cultural life hijacks biology. 正如生命无情地浸入物质并永远地将其劫持，文化生命也劫持了生物界。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

4 hacker   

n.能盗用或偷改电脑中信息的人，电脑黑客

参考例句：

• The computer hacker wrote that he was from Russia.这个计算机黑客自称他来自俄罗斯。
• This site was attacked by a hacker last week.上周这个网站被黑客攻击了。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

7 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

11 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

12 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。