Russia puts REvil hackers behind bars. Yes, you heard it right

A Russian court has sentenced four cybercriminals from the notorious REvil ransomware gang to four to six years in prison.

Russia is famous for turning a blind eye to Russian cybercriminals as long as they don’t target local entities. Therefore, the new court decision comes like a bolt from the blue.

On Friday, October 25th, the court in St. Petersburg announced the verdict against four defendants associated with the cartel – Artem Zayets, Aleksey Malozemov, Daniil Puzyrevsky, and Ruslan Khansvyarov.

According to Kommersant, the cybercriminals were found guilty of illicit financial flows (money source, its transfer or use). Puzyrevsky and Khansvyarov were additionally convicted of using and distributing malicious software. None of the defendants have admitted their guilt.

Zayets and Malozemov will be imprisoned for four and a half and five years, respectively, in a general-regime penal colony. Khansvyarov and Puzyrevsky received five and a half and six years respectively.

All defendants have been in custody since their arrest in early 2022. REvil was dismantled by the Russian security service FSB, which led to the arrest of 14 suspects. Eight defendants were eventually brought to trial.

Authorities seized 426 million roubles ($600,000), computer equipment, 20 luxury cars, and other assets, proving the group and its affiliates lived lavish lifestyles in Russia.

The FSB claims to have made the arrests at the US request, which is a rare case of bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Russia’s stance on cybercrime has been lenient, with cybercriminal gangs often enjoying impunity for their actions as long as they align with Russia’s political agenda.

REvil is suspected of being behind ransomware attacks in which threat actors penetrated the Colonial Pipeline and meat supplier JBS. REvil also claimed to have breached Midea Group, a major Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer.

The cartel was also behind an attack against software company Kaseya. The crooks demanded a $70 million ransom, the biggest sum requested so far. REvil was also known to demand ransoms of up to $5 million.