Ukrainian Cybercriminal “Rabotnik” Sentenced to 13 Years for Orchestrating $700M Worth of Ransomware Attacks

cryptonews.com:

Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a Ukrainian national known as  “ Rabotnik, ”  has been handed a prison sentence of 13 years and  seven months for his role in ransomware attacks.

According to a Wednesday Department of Justice announcement, Vasinskyi conducted over  2,500 ransomware attacks, demanding over $700 million in ransom payments.

The sentencing comes in the wake of a high-profile incident involving the hacking of Miami-based software provider Kaseya. The case examines the ransomware group REvil, which demanded a staggering $70 million in Bitcoin as ransom. 

Following the incident, Russian authorities, at the request of the United States, conducted a raid in March 2022. This led to the dismantling of the REvil group.

Rabotnik, a 24-year-old cybercriminal, has been ordered to pay restitution amounting to over $16 million.

He acted as an affiliate of groups employing the Sodinokibi or REvil ransomware variant. The groups used cryptocurrency payments and mixing services to conceal their unlawfully obtained funds.

These are the last publicly posted images of Yaroslav Vasinskyi.

He was approx. 19 years old in these pictures.

He was arrested at approx. 22 years old.

He was sentenced at approx. age 25 years old.

He will be released from prison when he is approx. 38 years old.

He made… pic.twitter.com/qtFvFzX5PH

— vx-underground (@vxunderground) May 1, 2024

Previously, Yaroslav Vasinskyi was extradited from Poland to the United States and subsequently  pleaded guilty to an 11-count indictment. 

The charges against him included  conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with computers, damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

“A s this sentencing shows, the Justice Department is