CLEVELAND – A press conference was held Tuesday, July 14, by federal authorities to announce an international cyberattack resulting in a $62 million loss for victims.
United States Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio announced the unsealing of a 75-page indictment charging three Russian nationals and two companies for their alleged part in malicious cyber activities against U.S. infrastructure.
The following defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit, aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering:
Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, 43, of St. Petersburg, Russia
Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, 34, of St. Petersburg, Russia
Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova, 28, of St. Petersburg, Russia
Media Land, LLC, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia
ML.Cloud, LLC, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia
These charges are a result of an investigation that lasted approximately seven years, affecting 21 states and nations all over the world. A federal grand jury returned an indictment listing the defendants in December of 2024.
According to a news release outlining these allegations, Media Land, LLC, owned by Volosovik, and ML.Cloud, LLC, owned by Pankova, were portrayed to users as legitimate internet hosting services to mask the crimes going on behind the screen.
Both corporations were based out of St. Petersburg, Russia, and controlled servers that controlled thousands of IP addresses, according to the indictment.
These corporations allegedly used what is called “bulletproof” hosting to evade security software to hack organizations’ computer systems and then hold them for ransom. Media Land is said to be the biggest “bulletproof” hosting service in the world.
Media Land LLC and ML.Cloud LLC advertised allegedly its services of hiding illegal criminal activity on criminal forums, according to the indictment. These corporations allegedly provided criminals with criminal co-conspirators to hack victims’ computers with malware and ransomware, then extort the victims for money and cryptocurrency.
The corporations are also alleged to have supported criminal marketplaces, registered fraudulent domains and provided a platform for launching phishing and brute-force attacks.
Many victims in this scam are based out of Ohio, and many banks, schools, entities, hospitals and media companies have been affected.
Specifically in Ohio, victims were found in:
Akron
Brookfield
Canton
Cleveland
Elyria
Medina
Findlay
Solon
Valley View
Victims were also located in Pennsylvania.
Gharun Lacy, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Assistant Director for Cyber and Technology Security at the Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DSS), shares the DSS’s commitment to fighting cyberattacks.
“The Department of State is committed to countering malicious cyber activities that threaten U.S. critical infrastructure and our national security,” Lacy said.
To show this commitment, Lacy announced that the DSS’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million and possible relocation for “actionable information on foreign government-linked associates” of the attackers, their cyber activity or foreign government-linked use of Media Land or ML.Cloud.
Josh DelManzo, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland Office, shares the effects of this cybercrime on Americans.
“These methods used by these bad actors, including ransomware, malware, phishing and other cyber activity, serves as a reminder that whether for business or personal use, when you are online, criminal networks will stop at nothing to hack, attack, share or sell your information for their own greed, gain and profit,” said DelManzo.
The FBI, along with its domestic and international partners, managed to trace the attack vectors back to Medial Land’s infrastructure. With help from all parts of the government, Media Land and ML.Cloud’s hosting abilities for cybercriminals have been shut down.
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