Canadian Netwalker ransomware affiliate faces 20 years in prison and $21 5m fine techcentral.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from techcentral.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Canadian hacker was arrested in Quebec after a search revealed 719 Bitcoin and hundreds of thousands of Canadian dollars believed to be stolen funds
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January 29, 2021
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it launched a coordinated international law enforcement action effort against NetWalker, what it called “a sophisticated form of ransomware.”
The DOJ claimed that the NetWalker ransomware has affected numerous victims, such as “companies, municipalities, hospitals, law enforcement, emergency services, school districts, colleges, and universities.” According to the Department, the ransomware attacks have “specifically targeted the healthcare sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking advantage of the global crisis to extort victims.”
The DOJ explained that it brought charges against a Canadian national regarding the attacks where more than $27.6 million was purportedly obtained. Other actions included the seizure of ransomware payments including approximately $454,530.19 in cryptocurrency from three separate attacks and the disabling of a “dark web hidden resource used to
US charges NetWalker ransomware affiliate, seizes ransom payments
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The U.S. Justice Department announced today the disruption of the Netwalker ransomware operation and the indictment of a Canadian national for alleged involvement in the file-encrypting extortion attacks.
Earlier today, BleepingComputer reported that law enforcement in the U.S. and Bulgaria seized Netwalker sites on the dark web used for leaking data from non-paying victims and for negotiating payments for data decryption.
In a press release published minutes ago, the DOJ confirms the success of the takedown effort in cooperation with the Bulgarian National Investigation Service and General Directorate Combating Organized Crime.