The US, UK, and Australia have imposed sanctions against Zservers and two Russians.

The United States, along with the United Kingdom and Australia, have imposed sanctions against the Russian internet hosting company Zservers and two Russians believed to be its administrators, according to the US Treasury Department's website.

Washington stated that the individuals on the sanctions list "facilitated ransomware attacks and other criminal activity." US authorities believe they were involved in supporting LockBit ransomware attacks, and Zservers provided bulletproof hosting (BPH) services, including leasing multiple IP addresses.

The Russians included in the US sanctions list are Alexander Mishin and Alexander Bolshakov.

The UK added Zservers, Mishin and Bolshakov, as well as XHost, to its list as being owned or controlled by Zservers, as well as Ilya Sidorov, Igor Odintsov, Dmitry Bolshakov, and Vladimir Ananyev, deeming them involved in Zservers' activities. The assets of all those included in the list are frozen, and the individuals are also banned from entering the UK.

The LockBit group gained notoriety in 2021. It uses ransomware of the same name, which encrypts files on its victims' computers and demands payment to unlock them. Similar hacking attacks have also targeted the American branch of Industrial & Commercial Bank ofCHINA Ltd., British Post and Boeing. 

Last May, the US, Australia , and the UK imposed sanctions on Dmitry Khoroshev, designating him as the leader of LockBit. Washington also announced a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of key leaders of the group and those involved in its activities.

In 2022, the US placed Mikhail Matveyev on the wanted list in the LockBit case, Mikhail Vasiliev was detained in Canada at Washington's request, and in 2023, 20-year-old Ruslan Astamirov was arrested in the US.

ReadPIONERPRODUKT .by inTELEGRAM .