The Council of the European Union has approved additional restrictive measures against six Russian hackers involved in cyberattacks against EU countries and Ukraine. For the first time, restrictive measures are being taken against cybercriminal actors that use ransomware campaigns against essential services, such as health and banking, the Council of the EU added.
The new lists include two members of the Callisto Group, Ruslan Peretyatko and Andrey Korinets, who conduct cyber operations against EU member states and third countries through sustained phishing campaigns aimed at stealing sensitive data. The sanctions also targeted Alexander Sklyanko and Nikolai Chernykh of the Armageddon hacker group, overseen by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which carried out various cyberattacks on the governments of EU member states and Ukraine. Additionally, Mikhail Tsarev and Maksim Galochkin, key players in the deployment of the Conti and Trickbot malware, were also sanctioned, along with members of the Wizard Spider hacker group that created Trickbot, a malicious spyware causing significant economic losses in the European Union.
In total, the EU cyber sanctions regime has been applied to 14 individuals and 4 legal entities, freezing assets, and imposing a ban on the entry of cybercriminals into the EU. This move underscores the EU’s commitment to combating cyber threats and ensuring the security and integrity of essential services in member states and beyond.
