22 People Affected by REvil Ransomeware Attack in Texas

Ransomware attacks on businesses and government bodies have been carried out across the United States, especially in Texas, by a group known as REvil. Ransomware is a type of software that prevents users from accessing their data unless they hand over cash.

REvil stole files from 22 Texas municipalities in 2019 in the hopes of receiving $2.5 million in blackmail. Texas government never paid up, but REvil continued to carry out attacks across the world.

However, the US Department of Justice stated that two foreign citizens were charged with launching REvil ransomware attack. The feds also allegedly confiscated $6.1 million ransom money. The FBI field offices have led the inquiry in Dallas and Jackson.

Both might be sentenced to 115 and 145 years in jail. They were accused of fraud and associated activities using computers, counts involving damage to protected computers, and conspiracy to launder money in separate indictments.

The US Attorney General Merrick Garland said, "Cybercrime has always been one of your country's primary concerns. It only harms the economy of the country but also harms personal safety and national security. The message is straightforward that the country's government will take all steps to protect the country from ransomeware attacks, overcome the loss, and take all the money back from the victims.

The attacks have been blamed on Yaroslav Vasinskyi, a 22-year-old Ukrainian national, and Yevgeniy Polyanin, a 28-year-old Russian citizen.

This year, Vasinskyi was involved in several REvil ransomware attacks against Kaseya, an international software business. Vasinskyi infiltrated one of Kaseya's products with malicious REvil code. As a result, ransomware was installed on Kaseya customer networks, encrypting and locking data until the money was paid.

Polyanin is involved in the 2019 attack on 22 Texas cities, which was carried out similarly. The ransomware was distributed by a third-party IT firm utilised by the Texas cities.

During a DOJ press release, it was suspected: "If the suspect does not give the money, the criminals generally put the victims' data on the internet or claimed they sold the stolen material to third parties, preventing victims from accessing their documents."

Vasinskyi was apprehended in Poland earlier this month. In connection with the charges, US law enforcement officials are still attempting to extradite Vasinskyi. Polyanin has yet to be arrested and is thought to be on the run somewhere in the world.