- The United States government has identified and sanctioned a BPH supplier linked to Russia
- The National Agency for Crimes of Great Britain helped identify a United Kingdom front
- Sanctions could not affect Russian attackers
Aeza Group, a Russian bullets accommodation supplier, and four affiliates have been sanctioned by the United States government for supporting ransomware and cybercrime, marking the second time this year, the United States has sanctioned bulletproof accommodation suppliers.
Bullet -proof accommodation suppliers (BPH) are web accommodation companies that knowingly allow and facilitate illegal or malicious activities in ignoring the requests for the application of the law, and AEza Group has been linked to a handful of known attacks.
The group specifically provided infrastructure to the Bianlian Ransomware group, which is believed to operate from Russia, as well as inforte infants such as Meduma and Lumma.
The BPH Russian supplier received American sanctions
It is believed that Bianlian has signed up for critical infrastructure in the United States, as well as notable organizations such as Save The Children. Previously known for ransomware encryption, the attackers began to focus on the exfiltration and extortion of data in early 2024.
In addition to sanctioning the Aeza Group registered by Russia, the United States has also sanctioned International, the Affiliate of the United Kingdom Group, with thanks to the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom. Arsenii Aleksandrovich Penzev, Yurii Meruzhanovich Bozoyan and Igor Anatolyevich Knyazev are the three key faces associated with aeza, each of which has a third of the company.
“The treasure, in close coordination with the United Kingdom and our other international partners, remains determined to expose critical nodes, infrastructure and people who support this criminal ecosystem,” acting under the secretary of terrorism and financial intelligence that Bradley T Smith explained.
The sanctions mean that American companies have been prohibited from participating in the Aeza Group, however, with the BPH supplier that apparently attracts a mostly Russian client base, it is unlikely that the sanctions of the United States have a significant impact on how Russian attackers use bulletproof host.
“The violations of US sanctions can result in the imposition of civil or criminal sanctions in American and foreign people,” confirms a treasure press release.
In addition to addressing the BPH provider, US authorities also recently dealt with Lumma by confiscating five Internet domains used for malware service that steals information.