Police seize $28M with extraditing alleged affiliate of Ransomware gang in Canada

Ransomware has been one of the most serious concerns that people have when it comes to cryptocurrencies. A man in Canada who is accused of carrying out dozens of ransomware assaults in 2020, has now been arrested in the United States with over $28 million seized in Bitcoin at his home.

The man has been charged to commit intentional damage to a protected computer, computer fraud and wire fraud, and transmitting a demand connected to damaging a protected computer resulting from his alleged involvement in ransomware called NetWalker.

A protected computer implies a computer that is used exclusively by either the U.S. authorities or a financial institution.

Companies, towns, hospitals, law enforcement, emergency services, school districts, schools, and universities have been among the victims of the NetWalker ransomware. During the COVID-19 epidemic, attacks especially targeted the healthcare industry, taking advantage of the international crisis to extort victims.

The arrest aligns with a worldwide campaign against ransomware. President Joe Biden committed in November to use “the full force of the federal government to disrupt malicious cyber activity,” and numerous large-scale operations have subsequently brought down these criminal groups, notably Russia’s REvil.

Ransomware-as-a-service

Vachon-Desjardins was supposedly an “affiliate” of the NetWalker ransomware gang, which sells “Ransomware-as-a-Service” (RaaS) to associates like Vachon-Desjardins, who then carry out the attack themselves and split the profits with the developers.

In October, as TheCoinRise reported, Australian legislation has planned to bring strict laws against these kinds of attacks. US Senator Warren has also introduced a bill to determine crypto’s role in ransomware.

According to the Toronto Sun, Vachon-Desjardins was also paid to teach other would-be criminals how to conduct major attacks.

During the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, NetWalker-created attack was frequently used against hospitals, emergency services, and other healthcare-related businesses.