An engineer from the Israeli company “Commun.it” uses his expertise in social media commercial analysis to identify networks of fake users during at the group’s office in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv on January 23, 2019. – A coalition of Israeli diplomats, programmers and hackers have joined forces to stave off threats — including from hostile states — by identifying networks on social media and getting them removed.
Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo credit JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images
The Briefing:Artem Stryzhak, 36, was sentenced on Tuesday, October 27, to 70 months in federal prison for operating as a paid affiliate of both the Nefilim and Hive ransomware networks.Hive struck roughly 1,500 victims worldwide between June 2021 and January 2023, including hospitals during active COVID-19 surges, contributing to more than $100 million in combined losses across both operations.Stryzhak’s co-conspirator, Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, the alleged administrator of Nefilim, remains a fugitive; the U.S. State Department is offering up to $11 million for credible information on his location.A 36-year-old Ukrainian cybercriminal who turned ransomware against hospitals at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — shutting down computer access at least one medical facility, forcing its staff onto paper-based workflows, and leaving it without the capacity to admit incoming patients — was sentenced Tuesday to 70 months in federal prison, the conclusion of a cross-continental pursuit that began when Spanish police arrested him in Barcelona in June 2024.The conviction of Artem Stryzhak reveals how ransomware-as-a-service platforms allow a single operator to drive multiple criminal networks at once, and it lands as federal prosecutors publicly confirm that the man allegedly at the center of one of those networks is still free — with an $11 million U.S. government reward awaiting anyone who helps locate him.A Pay-to-Hack Model Built to Scale Across Two Criminal EmpiresAccording to court records unsealed by the Justice Department, Stryzhak entered the Nefilim ransomware operation in approximately June 2021 under a profit-sharing structure: administrators — Volodymyr Tymoshchuk among them — gave him entry to the ransomware codebase in return for 20 percent of every ransom he extracted from victims. Within weeks of activating his platform account, he moved against a firm in the oil and gas transportation industry, exfiltrating its data and then configuring contact email addresses that appeared inside the ransom demand the company received.That contractor-style arrangement gave Stryzhak the latitude to run a second, substantially larger criminal enterprise at the same time.A Hospital Went Dark. Staff Shifted to Paper. Pandemic Response Fractured.Stryzhak came aboard Hive as one of its earliest affiliates — a network that federal investigators would later characterize as one of the most destructive cyber-extortion enterprises in recent memory. From June 2021 through January 2023, Hive’s campaign reached roughly 1,500 targets around the world, encompassing hospital networks, government bodies, and private enterprises spanning multiple continents.Within healthcare, the damage ran far deeper than the financial toll. At least one hospital struck through Hive lost all access to its computer network, reverted its patient management to manual paper processes, and was left unable to take in new patients in the immediate wake of the attack. Those disruptions landed during some of the most intense COVID-19 surges of the pandemic, elevating the threat to human life in ways no damages figure can adequately capture.In his capacity as a Hive affiliate, Stryzhak personally directed ransomware deployments against seven targets — a healthcare provider treating pandemic patients, a dentist’s office, and multiple law firms. The FBI, during its months-long covert operation inside Hive’s network, provided one of Stryzhak’s victims with a functioning decryption key, allowing that organization to recover its locked systems without any ransom changing hands.The Fugitive Who Keeps the Case Unfinished: $11 Million and No ArrestTuesday’s verdict closes only part of the prosecution. Volodymyr Viktorovych Tymoshchuk — identified by prosecutors as a serial ransomware developer and the central administrator of the Nefilim operation — has not been taken into custody. The U.S. State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is currently offering up to $11 million for verified information on Tymoshchuk’s whereabouts, positioning him among the most aggressively sought cybercriminals in active U.S. federal enforcement.U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. addressed the fugitive directly during Tuesday’s sentencing, declaring that authorities “remain determined to capture Volodymyr Tymoshchuk, a serial ransomware developer and Stryzhak’s co-conspirator.” The FBI has a dedicated tip channel for the case: TymoTips@fbi.gov and +1-917-242-1407.From Barcelona Streets to a Brooklyn Courtroom: Three Years, Two ContinentsThe legal process that produced Tuesday’s outcome stretched across three years and two continents. Spanish authorities detained Stryzhak in Barcelona in June 2024; U.S. officials finalized his extradition in April 2025. He entered guilty pleas to two conspiracy counts — covering fraud, extortion, and computer-related offenses — in December 2025, setting the stage for the 70-month sentence handed down by a federal judge in the Eastern District of New York.The FBI’s Springfield Field Office led the Nefilim investigation; the Tampa Field Office ran the Hive case. The DOJ’s Criminal Division Office of International Affairs, working alongside the FBI’s New York Field Office, coordinated the international logistics of locating, arresting, and extraditing Stryzhak together with Spanish law enforcement.Ransomware Reframed: When a Cyberattack Becomes a Patient-Safety EmergencyOperations Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Branch called Stryzhak “a prolific cybercriminal” who targeted both businesses and hospitals, noting that the networks he worked with disrupted patient care and produced losses exceeding $100 million. The sentence, Leatherman said, speaks to the gravity of those crimes and to the FBI’s capacity for pursuing suspects well beyond U.S. borders.The DOJ’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section has reported securing more than 180 convictions of cyber and intellectual property criminals since 2020, along with court orders directing the return of over $350 million in stolen funds to victims. Tuesday’s ruling extends that count. With Tymoshchuk still unaccounted for, the case against the alleged architect of Nefilim remains very much active.© {{Year}} Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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