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Canada has handed over a former authorities worker to US officers to face prices of digital extortion by ransomware. Canadian authorities additionally seized $28 million in cryptocurrencies.
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins was introduced from his dwelling in Quebec, Canada, to look in court docket Thursday in Tampa, Florida. The indictment alleges Vachon-Desjardins, 34, participated within the type of ransomware often called NetWalker to commit numerous cybercrimes of extortion in 2020, in response to a US Division of Justice temporary.
Whereas Vachon-Desjardins’ victims weren’t recognized within the temporary, the hacking collective underneath the NetWalker identify was linked to hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in ransom schemes, together with wresting $1.1 million from UC San Francisco’s College of Drugs and extra from different educational establishments in 2020.
Learn extra: A Timeline of the Largest Ransomware Assaults
It isn’t clear how a lot cash Vachon-Desjardins allegedly extorted from victims, however Canadian officers executing a search warrant of his dwelling in Quebec seized 719 Bitcoin, at present valued at roughly $28,151,582, and $790,000 in Canadian forex, in response to the Justice Division. The indictment alleges that $27 million was traceable to proceeds of his cybercrimes.