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3w ago

DOJ Unseals Indictment Charging Three Russians Over Bulletproof Hosting That Enabled $62M in Attacks

The move signals a push to cripple the hosting networks that shield ransomware gangs by pairing sanctions with a $10 million reward.

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
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Overview

  • Federal prosecutors unsealed a December 2024 indictment on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, charging Alexander Volosovik, Kirill Zatolokin and Yulia Pankova and their St. Petersburg firms Medialand LLC and ML. Cloud LLC with running bulletproof hosting used to support cybercrimes.
  • The defendants face counts including conspiracy to commit and aid and abet computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
  • Authorities say the hosting services enabled malware, command-and-control servers, stolen-data marketplaces and ransomware that victimized 42 targets across 21 U.S. states and caused more than $62 million in losses to banks, hospitals, schools, media companies and government entities.
  • The companies and individuals were sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in November 2025 with parallel measures from the U.K. and Australia, and the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is now offering up to $10 million for actionable information.
  • The case is part of the FBI’s Operation Riptide and reflects a strategic shift to disrupt criminal infrastructure rather than only arrest individual hackers, a tactic that could force cybercriminals to change providers and create new compliance and tracking pressure on networks and crypto services.