Swiss court sentences 52-year-old Ukrainian ransomware dev to nearly 13 years in the cooler
The man allegedly wrote the code that powered the Lockergoga, MegaCortex, and Nefilim operations
A Ukrainian ransomware developer, aged 52, has been sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison by a Swiss court. The individual was found guilty of creating LockerGoga, MegaCortex, and Nefilim ransomware. However, the court did not consider him the mastermind behind the operations. He received a ten-year ban from Switzerland but the judgment is not final and can be appealed.
He had been in pretrial detention since October 2021 and denied knowing that his software was being used for criminal purposes. The court dismissed this claim as the extortion messages were also found among his data. He claimed the source code was from his consulting work for an unidentified IT security client, but the court rejected this explanation.
The ransomware developer was also found guilty of playing a significant role in high-profile attacks, including one on Stadler Rail in 2020. The 2020 attack reportedly demanded a ransom of $6 million. The court also found him responsible for attacks on HVAC company Meier Tobler and software company Crealogix.
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