A coordinated effort by the U.S., UK, and Australia has led to sanctions against hosting provider Zservers and its UK affiliate for aiding cybercriminal activities.
Reasons for Sanctions
Sanctions against Zservers were announced on February 11 by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the UK's Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office. These measures include asset freezes, travel bans, and financial restrictions, effectively cutting off Zservers from the global financial system.
Key Figures and Actions
Regulators accuse Zservers of providing 'bulletproof' hosting services that enabled cybercriminals to evade law enforcement. The company's administrators, Alexander Igorevich Mishin and Aleksandr Sergeyevich Bolshakov, are alleged to have knowingly assisted LockBit affiliates by reassigning infrastructure to avoid scrutiny.
International Cooperation Against Cybercrime
This action is part of broader efforts to combat cybercrime, following up on a February 2024 law enforcement operation involving the FBI, the UK's National Crime Agency, and Europol, which succeeded in dismantling LockBit's infrastructure. The U.S. Department of Justice later charged a Russian national suspected of being a developer for the group.
These efforts aim to disrupt cybercriminal financial networks and protect critical infrastructure worldwide.
