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Mikhail Vasiliev, 33, of Bradford, Ontario, was among a group that began attacking more than 1,000 computer users in the U.S. and throughout the world as early as January 2020, federal officials said on Thursday, Nov. 10.
Vasiliev and his fellow LockBit members demanded at least $100 million in ransom demands after locking up the victims' devices, they said.
Vasiliev was arrested on Wednesday, Nov. 9, and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. District of New Jersey in Newark.
A complaint charges him with "conspiring with others to intentionally damage protected computers and to transmit ransom demands in connection with doing so," U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite and FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy said in a joint announcement on Thursday.
“International ransomware threats like LockBit are the most pressing cybercrime challenge facing law enforcement today,” Sellinger said. “These attacks cause disruption and damage to their victims that far exceed the dollar figures of ransom demands or payments, which are themselves significant.
"However, the United States is up for this challenge and will use all legal means to find the perpetrators of these attacks and bring them to justice.”
Sellinger credited the Newark Cyber Crimes Task Force with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked FBI agents in Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Miami, the FBI’s Legal Attaché-Ottawa, Jersey City police, New Jersey State Police, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and members of the U.S. attorney’s offices in the Northern District of Georgia and
the Western District of Pennsylvania for their assistance.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs "provided valuable assistance in securing Vasiliev’s arrest," he added.
Handling the case for the government are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Trombly and David E. Malagold of Sellinger's Cybercrime Unit in Newark and Trial Attorney Jessica C. Peck of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section in Washington, D.C.
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