Swiss court jails Ukrainian LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim ransomware developer for 12 years and 9 months
A court in Zurich sentenced an unnamed 52-year-old Ukrainian man to 12 years and nine months in prison and banned him from Switzerland for ten years. The court found him to be the lead developer of the LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim ransomware families. Victims include Norsk Hydro, Stadler Rail (500 GB stolen in 2020, reported US $6 million ransom refused), Hexion and Momentive. Prosecutors put the total damage at about CHF 100 million (US $123 million). The defendant denied knowing the software was used for crime and said he held the source code as a cybersecurity consultant for an unnamed client. The court appears to have treated him as the malware builder, not the person who selected targets or ran extortion campaigns.
Detalhes técnicos
- Last year, US prosecutors unsealed charges against Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, alleged administrator of LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim, which are believed to have hit hundreds of companies worldwide.
- Tymoshchuk allegedly released new strains whenever older ones were decrypted.
- The US State Department offers rewards of up to US $11 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Tymoshchuk and his associates.
Remediação
- In 2022, Bitdefender released a free LockerGoga decryptor in cooperation with law enforcement. Victims of historic LockerGoga attacks who still have encrypted files may be able to recover them without paying a ransom.
Linha do tempo
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Swiss court jails Ukrainian LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim ransomware developer for 12 years and 9 months
ler a análise desta fonte ocultar
A court in Zurich sentenced an unnamed 52-year-old Ukrainian man to 12 years and nine months in prison and banned him from Switzerland for ten years. The court found him to be the lead developer of the LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim ransomware families. Victims include Norsk Hydro, Stadler Rail (500 GB stolen in 2020, reported US $6 million ransom refused), Hexion and Momentive. Prosecutors put the total damage at about CHF 100 million (US $123 million). The defendant denied knowing the software was used for crime and said he held the source code as a cybersecurity consultant for an unnamed client. The court appears to have treated him as the malware builder, not the person who selected targets or ran extortion campaigns.
Technical Details
- Last year, US prosecutors unsealed charges against Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, alleged administrator of LockerGoga, MegaCortex and Nefilim, which are believed to have hit hundreds of companies worldwide.
- Tymoshchuk allegedly released new strains whenever older ones were decrypted.
- The US State Department offers rewards of up to US $11 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Tymoshchuk and his associates.
Remediation
- In 2022, Bitdefender released a free LockerGoga decryptor in cooperation with law enforcement. Victims of historic LockerGoga attacks who still have encrypted files may be able to recover them without paying a ransom.