A prolific initial access broker who played a key role in dozens of ransomware attacks costing victims over $9m has been sentenced to 81 months behind bars in the US, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ). Russian national Aleksei Volkov, 26, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced in an Indiana court yesterday after pleading guilty last November to unlawful transfer of a means of identification, trafficking in access information, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.
He had also pleaded guilty in a Pennsylvania court to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering before the cases were consolidated in Indiana. Volkov and his co-conspirators admitted to hacking victims’ networks, stealing their data, deploying ransomware and then dividing the ransom they extorted, with the DoJ claiming they tried to extort victim organisations to the tune of $24m.
He was accused of working as an IAB for several major cybercrime groups, including the Yanluowang ransomware operation, and was arrested in Rome in 2024 before extradition to the US in 2025, with restitution of at least $9.2m to known victims.