U.S. prosecutors have charged three Russian nationals and two web hosts with hacking, conspiracy, and money laundering over their alleged roles in hosting cyberattacks that caused tens of millions of dollars in damages to U.S. businesses.
The accused, Alexander Volosovik, Kirill Zatolokin, and Yulia Pankova from St. Petersburg, are accused of owning and running two web hosts, Media Land and ML.Cloud, which allegedly provided criminals and state-backed hackers with the infrastructure needed for cyberattacks.
This charge comes after the U.S. Treasury previously sanctioned these web hosts for allowing ransomware gangs to use their infrastructure. Economic sanctions now bar Americans from dealing with the Russians or their companies.
According to prosecutors, hackers used these web hosts to launch distributed denial-of-service attacks and phishing campaigns, targeting over 20 U.S. states and netting $62 million in cybercrime proceeds.
The web hosts were branded as “bulletproof,” deliberately shielding their customers from law enforcement demands and takedowns, making them a prime choice for hackers.
