U.S., U.K., Australia Sanction Russian REvil Hacker Behind Medibank Breach

Governments from Australia, the U.K., and the U.S. have imposed money sanctions on a Russian countrywide for his alleged role in the 2022 ransomware attack towards health insurance plan service provider Medibank.

Alexander Ermakov (aka blade_runner, GistaveDore, GustaveDore, or JimJones), 33, has been tied to the breach of the Medibank network as very well as the theft and launch of Individually Identifiable Information (PII) belonging to the Australian enterprise.

The ransomware attack, which took place in late October 2022 and attributed to the now-defunct REvil ransomware crew, led to the unauthorized entry of close to 9.7 million of its existing and former clients.

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The stolen information provided names, dates of delivery, Medicare numbers, and delicate health care information, like records on psychological health, sexual well being and drug use. Some of these data have been leaked on the dark web.

As aspect of the trilateral action, the sanctions make it a prison offense to supply property to Ermakov, or to use or deal with his belongings, such as by means of cryptocurrency wallets or ransomware payments.

The offense is punishable by up to 10 years’ imprisonment. In addition, the Australian govt has also imposed a vacation ban on Ermakov.

The U.K. government said the penalty is their hottest hard work “to counter malicious cybercriminal action emanating from Russia that seeks to undermine integrity and prosperity” of the nation and its allies.

Aside from criticizing Russia for supplying a risk-free haven to malicious cyber actors, the U.S. Section of the Treasury called out the East European country for enabling ransomware attacks by cultivating and co-opting legal groups.

It even more identified as on Russia to just take concrete measures to prevent cyber criminals from freely running in its jurisdiction.

“Russian cyber actors continue on to wage disruptive ransomware attacks in opposition to the United States and allied nations around the world, concentrating on our companies, together with critical infrastructure, to steal sensitive details,” claimed Below Secretary of the Treasury Brian E. Nelson.

“This motion demonstrates that the United States stands with our companions to disrupt ransomware actors who victimize the backbone of our economies and critical infrastructure,” the Treasury Division mentioned.

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