Evgenii Ptitsyn Arrested:
Evgenii Ptitsyn, the leader of one of the largest ransomware attacks, was extradited from South Korea to the US. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Ptitsyn was charged with orchestrating Phobos, a ransomware that gathered over $16,000,000 from more than 1,000 victims.Ransomware Model:
Since 2019, Phobos has been effectively operating using the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model. This ransomware typically infiltrated networks via phishing emails or exploited vulnerabilities within the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).Consequences and Possible Penalties:
The costs for decryption keys were transferred to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by Ptitsyn. However, if convicted, he could face severe penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment for each charge of wire fraud.