Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a dual Russian and Canadian national for his alleged participation in a global campaign to spread ransomware known as LockBit.
Mikhail Vasiliev, 33, of Bradford, Ontario, Canada, was taken into custody in late October by authorities in Ontario, officials at Interpol said. He is now in custody in Canada awaiting extradition to the US.
Federal prosecutors alleged Vasiliev helped infect networks around the world with LockBit. Officials with Europol said he is among the law enforcement group’s highest-value targets because of the large number of high-profile ransomware attacks he was involved in.
