DIGITAL LIFE

The face of a famous Russian hacker wanted by the FBI

The FBI, the federal police, has revealed the face of a Russian citizen, Mikhail Matveev, accused of carrying out large-scale cyberattacks against police stations in the United States. This hacker is said to have worked with major ransomware groups including Lockbit.

The FBI, the American federal police, announced on the website on May 16, 2023 it offers rewards of $10 million for any information about Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev. This hacker is accused of being behind the invasion of police departments in Washington, US capital, in 2021. The criminal at the time worked for the Babuk ransomware collective. The latter was disbanded after this cyberattack, several members considering that selling the stolen data could have very dangerous consequences.

Mikhail Matveev did not stop his career, however, and would then have worked for the Hive and Lockbit group, the prolific cybercrime collective responsible for the attack on the Corbeil-Essonnes hospital. The total earnings accumulated by all these groups amount to several hundred million euros.

This Russian national is a “key player” in this system, according to the American treasury department, helping to develop and deploy ransomware variants. Justice says he was also behind the attack on a police station in New Jersey, as well as a health center in the same state. These attacks targeted hospitals, universities and other critical infrastructure, according to the New Jersey prosecutor. The hacker hid behind the aliases Wazawaka, m1x, Broriscelcin and Uhodiransomwar.

An openly criminal hacker in Russia...Truth be told, Mikhail Matveev never hid from being a cybercriminal. In interviews, he said his activities were tolerated by local authorities on condition he remained loyal to Russia, the US department said. This confirms the idea of a social pact between the Kremlin and Russian cybercriminals. Specialized journalist Bryan Krebs managed to reveal his identity in an article, before receiving a video – published on YouTube – of the malefactor himself, congratulating him with irony. Mikhail Matveev also proves that he is him by showing off a 4-finger hand, as he would have lost his ring finger during a bet.

Bryan Krebs' sources confirmed to him that the Russian hacker was indeed linked to the Babuk group. Each hacking charge against him carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

In recent months, US authorities have stepped up their fight against cybercrime. The platform of the ransomware group Hive – at the origin of the attack on the Altice group (SFR, BFM) – was directly invaded and closed down by the FBI. A way to affect them, even from Washington. Mikhail Matveev has no chance of being extradited, but his identity disclosure prevents him from traveling freely. These operations also serve as a token to tell hackers that US law enforcement can find them.

Reporter: Bogdan Bodnar