Estonian Tied to 13 Ransomware Attacks Gets 66 Months in Prison
Summary: Maksim Berezan, a 37-year-old Estonian national, was sentenced to 66 months in a U.S. prison and ordered to pay $36 million in restitution for his role in at least 13 ransomware attacks that caused approximately $53 million in losses. Prosecutors said Berezan, a longtime member of the DirectConnection cybercrime forum who went by the alias "Albanec," participated in 13 ransomware attacks, 7 against U.S. victims, with roughly $11 million in ransom payments flowing into cryptocurrency wallets he controlled.
What's compelling: The $53 million in losses against $36 million in restitution and a 66-month term shows how far the recovery gap runs: the victims absorb the difference, and the operator's own take was about $11 million in ransom payments.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
- Related
- Gootloader Malware Disrupted After Infecting 25,000 Computers Cyber Risks · Nov 13, 2026354 dark web vendors and buyers arrested in Operation Tor Nado Cyber Risks · Nov 13, 2026Law Enforcement Disrupts Gootloader, CastleRAT, and StealC Infrastructure Cyber Risks · Nov 13, 2026