Russian Hacker Sentenced to 2 Years for TA551 Botnet-Driven Ransomware Attacks

According to The U.S. Department of Justice, a Russian national has been sentenced to two years in prison for managing a botnet used to launch ransomware attacks against U.S. companies. Ilya Angelov, 40, of Tolyatti, Russia, who went by the online aliases “milan” and “okart,” co‑managed a Russia‑based cybercriminal group known as TA551 (also known as ATK236, G0127, Gold Cabin, Hive0106, Mario Kart, Monster Libra, and Shathak) between 2017 and 2021.

Angelov’s group built a botnet by distributing malware‑infected files attached to spam emails and monetised it by selling access to compromised computers. Between August 2018 and December 2019, TA551 provided BitPaymer to the ransomware operation, allowing the attackers to infect 72 U.S. corporations and resulting in more than $14.17 million in extortion payments.

The DoJ noted that the group also attracted payments from the IcedID malware operators, who paid over a million dollars to acquire botnet access, with the arrangement lasting until about August 2021, according to the FBI.