- Millions of dollars of cryptocurrency were seized by the Doj
- The portfolio belongs to an alleged ransomware operator
- Ransomware, Zeppelin, is functionally worked
The United States Ministry of Justice (DOJ) announced that a cryptocurrency portfolio containing more than $ 2.8 million was seized following accusations of conspiracy to commit fraud and computer abuses, fraud and computer abuses, and a conspiracy to commit money laundering provided against the owner of the portfolio.
It is believed that Ianis Aleksandrovich directed the functioning of Zeppelin’s ransomware, which collapsed in 2022, to target and attack a wide range of individuals, companies and organizations around the world, including in the United States, ” confirmed the declaration.
Zeppelin was a ransomware-as-a-service tool that uses phishing as a contact point, using double extortion methods to steal and encrypt data and then sell (or threaten to sell) on the Dark Web.
Luxury active
In addition to the cryptocurrency, the DoJ has also entered species $ 70,000 as well as a luxury vehicle, assets that would be involved in the activity of ransomware – having mainly been used to whiten the product won thanks to ransom payments.
“These assets were bleached in various ways, in particular using the chipmixer cryptocurrency mixture service, which was deleted in an international operation coordinated in 2023. Antropenko also bleached cryptocurrency by exchanging cryptocurrency for species and moving the species in structured species.”
Zeppelin was used to victimize organizations in manufacturing, IT, health care and finance industries – in particular those that depend on sensitive data.
The RAAS was introduced in 2019 and tactics have evolved in the coming years, the actors using the tool to distribute malicious software. However, after the publication of Slalpy updates in 2021, the tool became much less important.
By 2022, the service has been essentially abandoned. UNIT221B safety researchers developed a decryptor key after the tool was used to attack non -profit organizations, homeless shelters and charity organizations.
