Three countries have sanctioned the Zervers hosting service in Russia for offering services to the infamous cryptocurrency ransomware Gangbit.
A 11 February press release Of the US Treasuries Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office revealed a joint performance, sanctioning bulletproof hosting-service provider Solute-Ledvers.
The sanctions include freezes of assets, travel prohibitions and limitations that Zervers cut off from the global financial system. This means that all properties or funds that are linked to them are blocked in sanctioned areas of law, and financial institutions risk fines when they come into contact with them.
For the unconscious, bullet -free hosting service providers offer infrastructure that is designed to protect cyber criminals against law enforcement by masking identities, locations and online activities. According to Bradley T. Smith, who is capable of secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial information, bad actors trust these services to orchestrate attacks on “American and international critical infrastructure”.
The relocation of blacklists also on the blacklist of ZServers managers Alexander Igorevich Mishin and Aleksandr Sergeyevich Bolshakov, together with four other people bound by the activities of Lockbit, cutting them off worldwide financial systems and the imposition of travel berths.
ZSERVERVER SERVICEED CLIENTS PAYS LOCKBIT
Authorities claim that Mishin and Bolshakov, such as ZServers managers, have provided bulletproof hosting to cyber criminals and re -assigned infrastructure to Lockbit branches to help them avoid detection. Mishin also directed cryptocurrency transactions linked to ransomware operations, including payments for the services of ZServers used by multiple ransomware groups.
According to a separate report From blockchain Analytics firm chainalysis has added a crypto wallet that is linked to Mishin and three other portfolios bound to ZServers to the specially designated Nationals list.
ZServers was suitable for a wide customer base in the cyber crime world, added the report. Chainalysis followed at least $ 5.2 million in chains linked to ZServers, which showed that several Affiliates of Ransomware had sent money to the service beyond Lockbit.
Chain analysis also noted that Zervers cashed in by sanctioned Russian Exchange Garrantex and other risky platforms with little to no KYC enforcement.
As previously covered by Crypto.news, the Lockbit Ransomware group, for the first time, was spotted in 2019, behind some of the biggest hacks and crypto -offspring cases, including attacks on Bangkok Airways, Accenture and Canadian Government Services.
In February 2024, a global law enforcement coalition – including the FBI, NCA, Europol and others – defined the operational network of Lockbit by grabbing its command and control systems. In December of that year, the US Department of Justice accused a Russian national for working as a developer for the Ransomware group.
