- The Department of Justice has seized millions of dollars in cryptocurrency
- The wallet belongs to a suspicious ransomware operator
- Ransomware, Zeppelin, is functionally extinct
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a cryptocurrency wallet that contains more than $ 2.8 million has been seized after conspiring charges to commit fraud and computer abuse, computer fraud and abuse, and conspiracy to commit money laundering contributed against the owner of the wallet.
It is believed that Ianis Aleksandrovich Antropenko headed the operation of Ransomware Zeppelin now missing, which collapsed in 2022, to “aim and attack a wide range of individuals, companies and organizations worldwide, even in the United States,” the statement confirmed.
Zeppelin was a ransomware tool as a service used by phishing as a contact point, using double extortion methods to steal and encrypt data and then sell (or threaten to sell) on the dark website.
Luxury assets
Together with the cryptocurrency, the Department of Justice also confiscated $ 70,000 in cash, as well as a luxury vehicle, assets that are alleged that they are involved in the ransomware activity, mainly having used washing income through rescue payments.
‘These assets were washed in several ways, even through the use of the chipmixer of the cryptocurrency mixing service, which was eliminated in an international operation coordinated in 2023. Antropenko also washed the cryptocurrency by exchanging cryptocurrencies by cash and depositing cash in structured cash deposits.
Zeppelin has been used to victimize manufacturing, IT, medical care and financial industries, particularly those that depend on confidential data.
RAAS was introduced in 2019, and tactics evolved in the coming years, and the actors use the tool to distribute malware. However, after careful versions were launched updated in 2021, the tool became significantly less prominent.
By 2022, the service was essentially abandoned. Unit221B security researchers developed a deciphered key after the tool was used to attack non -profit organizations, homeless people and charity organizations.
