38-year-old Maksim Silnikau, also known as Maksym Silnikov, was one of the most sought-after cybercriminals on the planet. He began his criminal activities in 2011 and has developed malware that has been used to scam 500 million victims worldwide, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom. After a long international investigation, he was located and arrested by the Civil Guard in Estepona, Spain in July of last year. While his extradition to the United States was being processed, where he faces numerous charges, the National Court released him on bail considering that there was no risk of flight. However, he managed to escape and his trail was lost until he tried to cross the border from Poland to Belarus, his home country, where he was arrested and extradited to the United States.
Silnikau, also known by aliases such as JP Morgan, xxx, and Lansky, is accused of creating and managing Ransom Cartel, malware that primarily targets companies, as well as distributing malicious software such as CryptXXX and Cryptowall. He is also accused of involvement in Reveton, the first ransomware business model that involved denying access to files, encrypting them, and demanding a ransom for their release, which was able to illegally collect $34 million annually. After blocking access to Windows devices, he would send a notification posing as the FBI, falsely accusing the user of illegal activities and demanding payment to avoid legal action. His scams not only caused significant economic and reputational damage but also considerable stress and anxiety to the victims, according to Paul Foster, head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crimes Unit.
Silnikau will be facing charges in the districts of New Jersey and Virginia in the United States. His arrest was part of a wide international operation involving the judicial and police cooperation of the UK, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Portugal, Spain, and Singapore. The investigation led to his location and subsequent arrest on July 18, 2023, in Estepona, Spain, where expensive vehicles were found stored in his garage. Despite being released on bail by the National Court, he managed to escape and was later apprehended in Poland while attempting to cross the border to Belarus. Ultimately, he was extradited to the United States on August 9, where he will face trial along with his accomplices, Vladimir Kadariya and Andrei Tarasov, who also face charges for their involvement in the criminal group.
Silnikau and his collaborators are seen as pioneers in cybercrime, especially for the development and dissemination of the Angler Exploit Kit, which criminals used to conduct malicious advertising campaigns that infected millions of devices worldwide. The tools developed by this group have contributed to the widespread popularity of cybercrime and its significant growth globally, allowing individuals without advanced technical knowledge to carry out effective ransomware attacks. The operation against Silnikau, known as Seacatch-Weighhouse, was carried out in coordination with multiple international agencies, yielding vital evidence for the case, including over 50 terabytes of data being reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation.
In a separate incident in Estepona in 2021, a British hacker was apprehended for hacking the Twitter accounts of high-profile individuals such as Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates to commit fraud. The 22-year-old, Joseph James O’Connor, also illegally accessed TikTok and Snapchat accounts, extorting money from victims and harassing a minor. O’Connor, alias PlugwalkJoe, was extradited to the United States in April 2023, where he pleaded guilty to numerous cybercrimes and was sentenced to five years in prison in June. His activities were described as malicious and harmful, causing emotional distress to many victims.
