Panev Rostislav

Panev Rostislav

Biography

2025: Extradition from Israel to US as part of allegations of LockBit ransomware virus

United States Department of Justice achieved the extradition of a citizen Russia Israel and Rostislav Panev from Israel United States in in March 2025. The 51-year-old is accused of developing the malicious, which is considered software LockBit one of the most dangerous in viruses extortioners the world.

Panev was arrested in Israel at the request of the American authorities in August 2024. Israeli law enforcement agencies found evidence on the suspect's laptop linking him to the LockBit virus. Among the evidence found is credentials to a repository containing the source code of LockBit ransomware and a special tool for stealing StealBit data.

The repository also contained the source code of the ransomware, Conti which was leaked in 2022 after a split in the hacker team. Experts believe that these source codes were used to create a new version of the malicious - ON LockBit Green.

In December 2024, American law enforcement agencies officially charged Panev. The investigation believes that he participated in the development of an encryption system for LockBit and StealBit viruses. For his work, the accused allegedly received about $230 thousand in cryptocurrency for 18 months - from June 2022 to February 2024.

During interrogations by Israeli police after his arrest, Panev admitted that he was programming for the LockBit group and received a monetary reward for this activity. The US authorities claim that the accused collaborated with the hacker group from its appearance in 2019 until February 2024.

The US Department of Justice said Panev was the developer of the LockBit ransomware group from its inception in 2019 until at least February 2024. The department noted that during this time he and his accomplices turned LockBit into the most active and destructive ransomware group in the world.^[1]

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