Phobos ransomware leader facing 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to hacking charges
TL;DR
A Russian national pleaded guilty to wire fraud for leading the Phobos ransomware gang, facing up to 20 years in prison. He was arrested in South Korea and extradited, with the gang attacking over 1,000 organizations and collecting millions in ransoms.
Source: The Record
A 43-year-old Russian national pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges on Wednesday after U.S. prosecutors accused him of being a key figure in the Phobos ransomware gang. Evgenii Ptitsyn will be sentenced on Jul. 15 and is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison Ptitsyn and several others began using the Phobos ransomware in Nov. 2020, attacking more than 1,000 organizations around the world. He was arrested in South Korea and extradited in Nov. 2024. Ptitsyn was the key developer behind Phobos and offered it to other cybercriminal affiliates who launched attacks on the gang’s behalf — taking a cut of all ransoms received. U.S. prosecutors previously said operators of Phobos and a related strain called 8Base collected upwards of $16 million from victims worldwide dating back to 2019. Full Story