EU places six Russian hackers on sanctions list

The European Council has approved additional restrictive measures against six individuals involved in cyber attacks on ICT systems of, among others, critical infrastructure. For the first time, people who have deployed ransomware are also included on the sanctions list.

Ruslan Peretyatko and Andrey Korinets are the first to be mentioned in a press release. Both belong to the Callisto group, Russian military intelligence officers who conduct cyber operations against EU member states and third countries through phishing campaigns. These attacks capture sensitive data from critical state functions, including defense and foreign relations.

The EU is also targeting Oleksandr Sklianko and Mykola Chernykh of the Armageddon hacker group. This group is supported by the Russian Federal Security Service and has carried out several cyber attacks with a significant impact on the governments of EU Member States and Ukraine. Armageddon uses phishing emails and malware campaigns.

Finally, Mikhail Tsarev and Maksim Galochkin played a key role in spreading the Conti and Trickbot malware. They are also involved in the Wizard Spider ransomware, which has shut down several necessary health and banking services. These attacks have caused significant damage in the EU.

Currently, the EU's horizontal cyber sanctions regime applies to fourteen individuals and four entities. Anyone on this list is not only no longer allowed to enter the EU, their European assets are also frozen. Furthermore, European citizens and organizations are not allowed to make money available to these parties.