Medibank hacker imposed sanctions by US, UK

The U.S. and UK have sanctioned Russian national Alexander Ermakov for his involvement in the October 2022 ransomware attack against Medibank, the largest health insurer in Australia, following similar action by the Australian government, which has committed to apprehend Ermakov, CyberScoop reports. Over 9.7 million records from current and former Medibank customers have been exfiltrated as part of the hacking operation that involved Ermakov, who also had ties with the REvil ransomware gang, also known as Sodinokibi, that had obtained $200 million in ransomware proceeds, said the U.S. Treasury Department in a statement. Meanwhile, the State Department expressed its continued commitment to counter Russian threat operations. "Russia continues to provide a safe haven to ransomware actors and enable ransomware attacks by cultivating and co-opting criminal hackers who have launched disruptive ransomware attacks against U.S. and allied countries. We will continue to stand with our partners to disrupt ransomware actors that threaten our economies and critical infrastructure," said the State Department.