BELARUSIAN LEADER OF INTERNATIONAL RANSOMWARE SCHEME KNOWN AS "RANSOM CARTEL" SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS IN PRISON

WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 -- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Secret Service issued the following press release:

ALEXANDRIA, VA - A Belarusian national was sentenced today to 16 years in prison for conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, Maksim Silnikau, 40, was the creator and administrator of the Ransom Cartel ransomware strain, created in 2021. Silnikau had been a member of Russian-speaking cybercrime forums since at least 2005 and was a member of the notorious cybercrime website Direct Connection from 2011 to 2016, when the site was shuttered after the arrest of its administrator.

Beginning in May 2021, Silnikau deve...