U.S. Department of Justice Seizes $24 Million in Cryptocurrency from Qakbot Malware Developers

According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize over $24 million in cryptocurrency held by Russian citizen Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov, who is accused of developing the Qakbot malware.

The indictment reveals that Gallyamov has been operating the Qakbot malware since 2008, infecting thousands of computers in 2019 to create a botnet and selling access to ransomware groups. These groups used ransomware such as Prolock, Dopplepaymer, and REvil to carry out attacks. In an international operation in 2023, U.S. authorities seized 170 bitcoins and over $4 million in stablecoins held by Gallyamov. Gallyamov and his accomplices then adopted new techniques, directly deploying Black Basta and Cactus ransomware to continue their criminal activities.