The U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Secret Service have announced reward $2.5 million for information leading to the capture of Belarusian Volodymyr Kadariya (Владимир Кадария), who is involved in various cybercrimes and has also been linked to the Angler Exploit Kit.
The 38-year-old man appears to have managed malvertising campaigns for the Angler Exploit Kit from October 2013 to March 2022. He is also wanted for his involvement in various other malware.
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"The U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Volodymyr Kadariya, in any country, for his alleged involvement in a major malware organization," the U.S. Department of State said in a statement.
The hacker, known on the Internet by various aliases, including “Stalin”, “Eseb” and “baxus”, was first charged with computer in June 2023.
At the time, Kadariya was identified as one of the co-conspirators of Maksim Silnikau , who was involved in global malware distribution operations with Andrei Tarasov . Silnikau (aka “JP Morgan”), the creator and operator of the Ransom Cartel, Reveton ransomware, and Angler Exploit Kit, was arrested in Spain and later extradited to the United States.
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Angler Exploit Kit
The Angler Exploit Kit first appeared in 2013 and quickly became popular, as it could leverage exploits in outdated software such as Adobe Flash, Java, Silverlight, and Internet Explorer to infect systems with malware.
Malvertising was a key method of the Angler Exploit Kit, with malicious advertisements being placed on legitimate websites.
The Angler Exploit Kit's functionality began to decline around 2016, and by the end of the year, it was considered inactive. However, the impact on victims remains significant.
Other malicious activities of wanted person Volodymyr Kadariya
Kadariya is not only associated with the Angler Exploit Kit. He had also used “scareware” ads to deliver fake messages to Internet users, trying to convince them to download malicious files to computers their. In other cases, he tricked them into revealing personal and financial information on phishing.
See also: LockBit ransomware: $10 million reward for information on its leaders
In addition, it sold “logs” of stolen data to other cybercriminals and provided access to systems that had been compromised by the Angler Exploit Kit.
Kadariya's whereabouts are currently unknown, and the U.S. is appealing for any information that could help lead to his arrest or conviction. His arrest could provide important information about the operation of various malware, their techniques, and other tools they use, helping authorities develop more effective strategies to counter the attacks.
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Furthermore, identifying the hacker could also influence the actions of other cybercriminals, as it will show that efforts to identify and arrest criminals are effective and that cybercrime does not go unpunished.
In the past, rewards have been announced for information on members and associates of various ransomware operations, including LockBit, Hive, Clop, Conti, REvil (Sodinokibi), and Darkside.
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
