The Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP on Tuesday that a man arrested in late October in Canada, suspected of being a key player in one of the world’s most profitable ransom organizations, will at least be linked to. “115 attacks on French victims”.. US and European authorities announced on November 11 the arrest of Russian-Canadian Mikhail Vasiliev, who was suspected of deploying the LockBit ransomware to launch attacks against critical infrastructure and major industrial groups around the world.
Europol said in a statement that the 33-year-old was known for his exorbitant ransom demands, ranging from €5 million to €70 million. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, this man “Listed as a high-level target, it was found to be likely linked to multiple ransomware groups and perpetrators of multiple attacks on victims spread across the globe. (Lockbit, Blackcat, Ragnarlocker, Darkside…)”.
“The first exploitation of the computer equipment enabled the individual to be linked to the execution of 115 attacks against the French victims and about 2,000 victims worldwide.”, according to the prosecution. In France, the procedure was opened in September 2020 in the cyber department of the Paris prosecutor’s office. “Following numerous ransomware attacks carried out against companies in all industries, from SMEs to multinationals.”.
Extradition to the United States
He was “Entrusted to the Center for Combating Digital Crimes of the Gendarmerie Command in Cyberspace (C3N), with the support of the research units of Marseille and the Maritime Gendarmerie.” Then a judicial investigation was initiated against the person. “Now targeted by international arrest warrants from France and the United States.”
He is awaiting extradition to the United States, the US Justice Department said in a statement last week. The Russian-language LockBit 3.0 group, which uses the Lockbit ransomware, is particularly known for disrupting the Center hospitalier sud-francilien (CHSF) in Corbeil-Essonnes in a spectacular cyberattack in August. He also recently claimed responsibility for the cyber attack against Thales.
Source: Le Figaro
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