U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey on Friday announced charges against Rostislav Panev, 51, a dual Russian-Israeli citizen accused of being the primary developer of the LockBit ransomware group. Mr. Panev is currently in Israeli custody and faces extradition to the United States.
LockBit is one of the most prolific ransomware gangs, accused of launching devastating data theft cyberattacks on thousands of companies around the world, including the United States, and racking up at least $500 million in ransom payments alone. is believed to be responsible. Although authorities identified and seized Rockbit's infrastructure in a takedown operation in February, Rockbit briefly rebounded as its leader, named by British and American authorities as Dmitry Khoroshev, remains at large.
According to prosecutors, of the seven Rockbit members indicted so far, Mikhail Vasilyev of a Rockbit affiliate was arrested in Canada in 2022, and Ruslan Vasiliev was arrested in the United States in 2023. After arresting Mr. Astamirov and now Mr. Panev, it becomes 3-3.