US, UK, Australia Sanction Russian Host "Zservers" for Cybercrime Links

The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia imposed sanctions on the Russian internet hosting company Zservers on February 11 for providing services to cybercriminals, according to the US Department of the Treasury.

Zservers, an armored hosting provider, supported cybercriminals responsible for ransomware attacks using LockBit malware. LockBit, a Russian cybercrime group, is known for its ransomware that encrypts data on targeted systems and demands a ransom for decryption.

The group carried out the November 2023 attack on the US brokerage unit of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Treasury Department stated.

Authorities explained that dedicated hosting providers offer access to specialized servers and infrastructure designed to evade detection by law enforcement. Zservers’ administrators, Oleksandr Mishin and Oleksandr Bolshakov, were also sanctioned for facilitating attacks and processing cryptocurrency payments.

As a result of the sanctions, all US-based accounts and assets belonging to Zservers and its administrators have been frozen.

American companies are prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with them. Financial institutions that continue to cooperate with Zservers could also face sanctions.

Earlier, on January 5, the pro-Russian hacker group Noname057(16) claimed responsibility for hacking seven Ukrainian websites, including military industry firms.