Belgium holds first trial of Russians for cybercrimes
Pravda Ukraine
On Friday, 17 January, a criminal court in Brussels began hearing a case against two Russians accused of cybercrimes, specifically extortion through ransomware attacks.
Source: European Pravda with reference to Belgian public service broadcaster VRT
Details: The defendants, 40-year-old V. S. and 44-year-old E. T., are accused of using Crylock ransomware to extort money from hundreds of thousands of people.
The ransomware remotely locked computer files and demanded payment to restore access.
Belgian investigators revealed that V. S. developed Crylock, while E. T. promoted the ransomware to potential buyers and acted as an intermediary between the clients and victims during the ransom transactions.
The criminals targeted mainly companies but also private individuals, including minors. In total, nearly 400,000 people were affected, with damages estimated to exceed €3 million.
V. S. and E. T. were arrested in Spain in June 2023 and extradited to Belgium. During searches of their residence, police seized 16 servers.
At the opening of the trial, the Brussels prosecutor urged victims not to pay ransoms and to report incidents to the police.
The substantive hearings in the case are scheduled for 9 May.
The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office says that this is the first time the country has tried Russian citizens for large-scale ransomware cyberattacks.
Background:
- Belgium has previously suffered from Russian cyberattacks related to its assistance to Ukraine in its fight against the full-scale Russian invasion.
- NATO believes that the cyberattacks could be grounds for activating Article 5 of The North Atlantic Treaty.
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