EU Sanctions Six Russian Hackers, Including Trickbot and Conti Distributors

The European Union has sanctioned six Russian citizens for involvement in attacks against targets in the EU and the rest of the world.

While it’s true that it is difficult to pinpoint the people behind threat actors, not all of them are unknown. In fact, some of the hackers hurting companies and people across the world are known, and there’s enough information about them to know that some of them are affiliated with various security services.

“The Council today approved additional restrictive measures against six persons involved in cyber-attacks affecting information systems relating to critical infrastructure, critical state functions, the storage or processing of classified information and government emergency response teams in EU member states,” said the EU Council in a press release.

“For the first time, restrictive measures are being taken against cybercriminal actors that use ransomware campaigns against essential services, such as health and banking,” the Council added.

The sanctioned members include Ruslan Peretyatko and Andrey Korinets, members of the Callisto group, and who are believed to be Russian intelligence officers conducting cyber operations against EU member states.

Oleksandr Sklianko and Mykola Chernykh are part of another group named Armageddon, which is backed by the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation. This threat actor has often attacked targets in the EU and Ukraine.

Finally, Mikhail Tsarev and Maksim Galochkin are hackers believed to be directly involved in the deployment of Conti and Trickbot, two types of malware that have wreaked havoc in the past few years, especially in the health and banking industries.

According to the EU, the hackers will face an asset freeze and a travel ban. Moreover, EU persons and entities are forbidden from making funds available to those on the blacklist.