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Wanted Russian Hacker Linked to Hive and LockBit Ransomware Arrested

In Legal News, Malware Ransomware
December 03, 2024
Wanted Russian Hacker Linked to Hive and LockBit Ransomware Arrested

The Hacker News reports that a notorious Russian cybercriminal wanted in the U.S. in connection with LockBit and Hive ransomware operations has been arrested:

According to a news report from Russian media outlet RIA Novosti, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev has been accused of developing a malicious program designed to encrypt files and seek ransom in return for a decryption key.

… Matveev has been charged under Part 1 of Article 273 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, which relates to the creation, use, and distribution of computer programs that can cause “destruction, blocking, modification or copying of computer information.”

Read more at The Hacker News.

In May 2023, two indictments were unsealed in Washington, D.C., and the District of New Jersey charging Mikhail Matveev, also known as “Wazawaka,” “m1x,” “Boriselcin,” and “Uhodiransomwar,” with using different ransomware variants, including LockBit, to attack numerous victims throughout the United States, including the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. Matveev is currently the subject of a reward of up to $10 million through the U.S. Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) Rewards Program, with information accepted through the FBI tip website at tips.fbi.gov/.