US imposes sanctions against Russian hacker

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in coordination with Australia and the United Kingdom, designated Alexander Ermakov (Ermakov), a cyber actor who played a pivotal in the 2022 ransomware attack against Medibank Private Limited, an Australian healthcare insurer, Report informs, citing Department of the Treasury.

“Russian cyber actors continue to wage disruptive ransomware attacks against the United States and allied countries, targeting our businesses, including critical infrastructure, to steal sensitive data,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian E. Nelson. “Today’s trilateral action with Australia and the United Kingdom, the first such coordinated action, underscores our collective resolve to hold these criminals to account.”

Yesterday, Australia sanctioned Ermakov for utilizing ransomware to attack the Medibank network and for the exfiltration of sensitive data of 9.7 million users of Medibank services. Today, the United States and the United Kingdom, in solidarity with Australia, are taking action against the same individual because of the similar risk presented by this actor to the United States and the UK.