Silnikov Maxims

Biography

2024: Extradition from Poland to the United States under charges of cyber attacks

In mid-August 2024, it became known that during an international operation coordinated by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Belarusian hacker Maxim Silnikov, who is accused of ransomware attacks, was arrested and extradited to the United States.

The NCA has investigated a cybercriminal acting under the online pseudonym "J.P. Morgan" and his criminal network since 2015. It is believed that these individuals are responsible for the development and distribution of known strains of ransomware viruses, including Reveton and Ransom Cartel. Reveton also provides a set of tools that allow low-skilled criminals to launch effective ransomware attacks for a fee, dramatically lowering the threshold for entering the cybercriminal world. Victims of the Reveton virus received messages allegedly sent by law enforcement agencies that blocked their IT systems and accused them of downloading illegal content, such as child abuse materials and copyrighted programs. Horrified users paid hefty "fines" for fear of jail time or to regain access to their devices.

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Nationalcrimeagency

Cybercrime specialists, working closely with international partners, identified the hackers and were charged in 2023. During the operation in the summer of 2024, the NCA, with the support of US officers, arrested 38-year-old Maxim Silnikov in Estepon (Spain). It is believed that it was Silnikov who used the pseudonym "J.P. Morgan," as well as other pseudonyms known in the cybercriminal community, including "xxx" and "lansky." On August 9, 2024, Silnikov was extradited from Poland to the United States to face charges related to cybercrime. Other individuals arrested in the operation, Vladimir Kadaria, 38, from Belarus, and Andrei Tarasov, 33, from Russia, are also believed to have played key roles in the J.P. Morgan crime gang.^[1]

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