Leaders of Russian hacker group sanctioned by US

On Friday 19 July, the US Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on the leaders of the hacking group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn (CARR), which attempted to attack American critical infrastructure.

Source: US Department of Treasury, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on Yuliya Pankratova, the head of the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, and its main hacker, Denis Degtyarenko.

Since 2022, this "cyber army" has conducted "low-impact, unsophisticated DDoS attacks in Ukraine and against governments and companies located in countries that have supported Ukraine," and by the end of 2023, it had targeted industrial control systems of numerous critical infrastructure in the United States and Europe.

Quote: "Using various unsophisticated techniques, CARR has been responsible for manipulating industrial control system equipment at water supply, hydroelectric, wastewater, and energy facilities in the U.S. and Europe," the report said.

Among the particular incidents of Russian cyber intrusions, the US government cites a software failure in January 2024 that resulted in an overflow of water storage tanks in Texas, as well as interference with an American energy company's dispatch control and data gathering system.

There is additional evidence that the Cyber Army of Russia Reborn planned more such operations on the United States.

"CARR and its members’ efforts to target our critical infrastructure represent an unacceptable threat to our citizens and our communities, with potentially dangerous consequences," said Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson.

This is not the first time the United States imposes sanctions against Russian cybercriminals. In May, US, UK and Australia imposed sanctions on Dmitry Khoroshev, the Russian leader of the LockBit hacker gang, which is responsible for the development and distribution of LockBit ransomware.

In February, the US Department of Justice charged two Russian nationals, Artur Sungatov and Ivan Kondratiev, also known as Bassterlord, with active involvement in this hacker gang. 

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