The United States and the United Kingdom have intensified their efforts to combat cybercrime by imposing sanctions on additional members of the notorious Russian hacking group Trickbot. Furthermore, the US Justice Department has unsealed indictments against nine individuals with connections to the group. These actions are part of a wider crackdown on cybercriminal organizations involved in malicious software and ransomware schemes.
The US Treasury Department and the British Foreign Office jointly announced these measures, following previous sanctions against seven key members of Trickbot in February. The sanctions are in response to Trickbot’s involvement in cyberattacks targeting hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as attacks on US government entities and American companies.
The latest round of sanctions specifically targets “key actors involved in management and procurement for the Trickbot group” and highlights the group’s links to Russian intelligence services. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly emphasized that the goal is to disrupt Trickbot’s business model and remove the cloak of anonymity surrounding its members.
“We know who they are and what they are doing,” Cleverly stated in a press release.
While some view such sanctions as symbolic, given Russia’s existing heavy sanctions and the tendency of cybercriminals based there to avoid the United States and the UK, officials argue that they can complicate the process of money laundering for hackers.
The US Justice Department is also taking action, unsealing indictments against nine individuals connected to the Trickbot gang. Trickbot derives its name from the suite of malware tools used by its members to infiltrate and extort victims. This malicious program has a history dating back at least a decade and has infected millions of computers worldwide, according to the Treasury. British officials estimate that the Trickbot gang has extorted at least $180 million from individuals around the world.
As of now, there has been no immediate response from the Russian Embassy in Washington regarding these developments, and the Department of Justice has not issued a statement.