WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. Treasury Department and the finance ministries of the UK, Canada and several other countries, Thursday sanctioned a Russian malware operation that it says has cost 300 financial institutions and their customers hundreds of millions of dollars.
In a conference call with reporters, senior Treasury officials described the operation as primarily directed against the banks and other financial institutions of NATO countries, including Canada as well as the UK, through a Moscow-based corporation with links to the Russian government.
The operation was “brazenly” named “Evil Corp.” the officials said, and its “Dridex” malware collected passwords and bank account information in 40 countries that allowed the operation to siphon funds into its own accounts.
The Treasury Department announcement follows:
Today the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action against Evil Corp, the Russia-based cybercriminal organization responsible for the development and distribution of the Dridex malware. Evil Corp has used the Dridex malware to infect computers and harvest login credentials from hundreds of banks and financial institutions in over 40 countries, causing more than $100 million in theft. This malicious software has caused millions of dollars of damage to U.S. and international financial institutions and their customers. Concurrent with OFAC’s action, the Department of Justice charged two of Evil Corp’s members with criminal violations, and the Department of State announced a reward for information up to $5 million leading to the capture or conviction of Evil Corp’s leader. These U.S. actions were carried out in close coordination with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA). Additionally, based on information obtained by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Treasury Department’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection (OCCIP) released previously unreported indicators of compromise associated with the Dridex malware and its use against the financial services sector.
“Treasury is sanctioning Evil Corp as part of a sweeping action against one of the world’s most prolific cybercriminal organizations. This coordinated action is intended to disrupt the massive phishing campaigns orchestrated by this Russian-based hacker group,” said Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury. “OFAC’s action is part of a multiyear effort with key NATO allies, including the United Kingdom. Our goal is to shut down Evil Corp, deter the distribution of Dridex, target the “money mule” network used to transfer stolen funds, and ultimately to protect our citizens from the group’s criminal activities.”
Worldwide, cybercrime results in losses that total in the billions of dollars, while in the United States, financial institutions and other businesses remain prime targets for cybercriminals. Today’s action clarifies that, in addition to his involvement in financially motivated cybercrime, the group’s leader, Maksim Yakubets, also provides direct assistance to the Russian government’s malicious cyber efforts, highlighting the Russian government’s enlistment of cybercriminals for its own malicious purposes. Maksim Yakubets is not the first cybercriminal to be tied to the Russian government. In 2017, the Department of Justice indicted two Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers and their criminal conspirators for compromising millions of Yahoo email accounts. The United States Government will not tolerate this type of activity by another government or its proxies and will continue to hold all responsible parties accountable.
Today’s designations and indictments were issued in furtherance of previous international actions targeting Evil Corp in an effort to further disrupt and degrade the group’s ability to operate. In October 2015, the Department of Justice indicted Andrey Ghinkul for spreading the Dridex malware. At that same time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the NCA disrupted the global infrastructure utilized at the time by Evil Corp. Over the past several years, the NCA and the United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police Service have arrested multiple individuals who enabled the activities of Evil Corp, including laundering stolen proceeds acquired through the Dridex malware.
As a result of today’s designations, all property and interests in property of these persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Additionally, any entities 50 percent or more owned by one or more designated persons are also blocked. Foreign persons may be subject to secondary sanctions for knowingly facilitating a significant transaction or transactions with these designated persons.
Designation Targets
Today’s action targets 17 individuals and seven entities to include Evil Corp, its core cyber operators, multiple businesses associated with a group member, and financial facilitators utilized by the group. OFAC designated these persons pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, as amended, which targets malicious cyber-enabled actors around the world, and as codified by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act.