How the Kremlin provides a safe harbour for ransomware

A file photo of Vinnik, center, being escorted by police officers from the courthouse at the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Vinnick, convicted of laundering US$160mil in criminal proceeds through a cryptocurrency exchange, is currently imprisoned in France and might yield additional information about the intersection of organised cybercrime and the Russian state. — AP

BOSTON: A global epidemic of digital extortion known as ransomware is crippling local governments, hospitals, school districts and businesses by scrambling their data files until they pay up. Law enforcement has been largely powerless to stop it.

One big reason: Ransomware rackets are dominated by Russian-speaking cybercriminals who are shielded – and sometimes employed – by Russian intelligence agencies, according to security researchers, US law enforcement, and now the Biden administration.