Eight members of the REvil ransomware operation were detained by Russian officers and are currently facing criminal charges for their illegal activity.
See also: FBI: Seizes $2.3 million from REvil, Gandcrab ransomware affiliates
On Friday, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, the country's domestic intelligence agency, announced raids on the homes of 14 people suspected of involvement in the REvil ransomware.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Russian Interior Ministry, after US authorities reported the leader of the group and called for action against cybercriminals residing in Russia.
See also: Russia: Internet watchdog blocks six more VPNs
The names of the suspects were unknown until recently, with Moscow's Tverskoi Court announcing eight of them after their arrest:
Muromsky Roman
Bessonov Andrey
Golovachuk Mikhail A.
Zayets Artem N.
Khansvyarov Ruslan A.
Korotayev Dmitry V.
Puzyrevsky DD.
Malozemov Alexei V.
The suspects have been imprisoned for two months as a preventive measure and all of them are being investigated for illegal circulation of payment instruments, such as fake credit cards and other similar documents.
Because of this, cybercriminals on some hacking forums believe that the suspects were arrested for trading and using stolen credit cards.
Yelisey Boguslavskiy, head of threat prevention research at AdvIntel, says the individuals arrested were likely low-level and not the core of the REvil operation, which develops the malware and maintains the ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation.
See also: REvil ransomware: “Shuts down” again after breaching Tor sites
All those arrested are charged with committing a crime under Part 2 of Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Russian TASS News Agency reports, which carries a penalty of five to eight years in prison.
The gang is responsible for some of the most high-profile ransomware incidents, such as the attack on JBS, which forced it to pay an $11 million ransom.
