The UK government has just confirmed a new round of sanctions against companies and people in Russia they believe are involved in cyberattacks.
The action has been taken alongside the US and Australian governments.
The companies sanctioned today are:
- Media Land LLC
- ML Cloud LLC
- Aeza Group LLC
The people sanctioned today are:
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Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik
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Andrei Valerevich Kozlov
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Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin
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Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Cyber criminals think that they can act in the shadows, targeting hard working British people and ruining livelihoods with impunity.
“But they are mistaken – together with our allies, we are exposing their dark networks and going after those responsible.”
The Foreign Office said Media Land is “one of the most significant operators of so-called ‘bulletproof’ hosting services, which provides online infrastructure that enables cyber criminals to engage in illegal activity, including ransomware and phishing attacks”.
The department added: “These shadowy online networks allow cyber criminals and malicious actors to think they can act with impunity and destroy livelihoods – today’s action, taken alongside our allies in Australia and the United States and in collaboration with the UK’s National Crime Agency, proves otherwise.”
Meanwhile, US under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, John Hurley, said: “Today’s trilateral action with Australia and the United Kingdom, in coordination with law enforcement partners, demonstrates our collective commitment to combating cybercrime and protecting our citizens.”
The sanctions include asset freezes and director disqualification orders for all people mentioned, as well as travel bans.
UK companies will be forbidden from doing business with the sanctioned corporations.
ML Cloud and Media Land are sister companies, with their technology used for attacks including ransomware and DDOS , the US Treasury said.