Millions in crypto funded tools to exploit U.S. software, Treasury says in new sanctions

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TL;DR

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a Russian company, Operation Zero, and its associates for using millions in cryptocurrency to buy stolen U.S. defense technology, which was then resold to exploit software vulnerabilities.

Key Takeaways

•The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Operation Zero and individuals for purchasing stolen U.S. defense technology with cryptocurrency.
•The technology was stolen by a former defense contractor employee and sold to the sanctioned group.
•This marks the first sanctions under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, blocking U.S. dealings with the flagged entities.
•Cryptocurrency was used in the transactions, but specific addresses were not blacklisted by the Treasury.

Treasury Department columns and statue (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk) — The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned a company that bought stolen U.S. technology using digital assets. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

What to know:

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned a Russian company and the individuals associated with it for dealing in stolen technology purchased with millions in cryptocurrency.
The technology was designed by a defense contractor for use by the U.S. government, and one of the contractor's employees was said to have stolen it and sold it to Operation Zero, the target of the new sanctions.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has sanctioned a Russian company and the individuals associated with it for dealing in stolen technology purchased with millions in cryptocurrency.
The technology was designed by a defense contractor for use by the U.S. government, and one of the contractor's employees was said to have stolen it and sold it to Operation Zero, the target of the new sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian company, Operation Zero, and the individuals behind it after accusing them of buying stolen cyber tools for millions in cryptocurrency and re-selling those technologies, which were created to be used by the U.S. government.

The tools bought and sold by newly sanctioned Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk and his business, Operation Zero, were said to be originally stolen by an Australian national, Peter Williams, who once worked at the defense contractor that made the national-security focused software "for the exclusive use of the U.S. government and select allies." Williams pleaded guilty last year to selling trade secrets.

"Treasury will continue to work alongside the rest of the Trump Administration to protect sensitive American intellectual property and safeguard our national security," said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement.

Zelenyuk and the others are said to be the first people to be sanctioned under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act. The sanctions by the Office of Foreign Assets Control block U.S. people from any business dealings with those flagged or with others who do business with them."Operation Zero has sought to recruit hackers to support its activities and develop business relationships with foreign intelligence agencies through use of social media," the Treasury Department said in its statement. The accusations say the tools were offered for sale to those seeking to exploit vulnerabilities in computer software.

While the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control alleged that cryptocurrencies were used in the transactions, it did not list specific addresses for blacklisting.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has proposed a rule that would set in stone its previous actions to toss out "reputation risk" as a factor in bank supervision, which is believed to have contributed to the debanking of crypto insiders and firms.
The move, open for a 60-day public comment period, would stop supervisors from pushing bankers to sever ties with politically disfavored businesses.

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