The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the Russian company Aeza Group, which provided bulletproof hosting services for cybercriminals and facilitated their activities.
This is reported by Business • Media
Cybercriminal Activities and Blocked Cryptocurrency Wallet
According to OFAC, Aeza Group collaborated with info stealers, ransomware programs, and darknet marketplaces, including the Blacksprut platform, helping them evade law enforcement countermeasures. The U.S. agency also blocked the company’s cryptocurrency wallet, which contained digital assets worth approximately $350,000 that were used to support cyber operations.
“Cybercriminals continue to rely on the services of bulletproof hosting providers like Aeza Group to carry out destructive ransomware attacks, steal U.S. technology, and sell drugs on the black market. We remain committed to exposing critical nodes, infrastructure, and individuals supporting this criminal ecosystem,” said Acting Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith.
Hosting for Criminal Organizations and Sanctions List
Aeza Group, registered in St. Petersburg, provided hosting services to the following criminal organizations:
- info stealer operators Meduza and Lumma, which targeted companies in the U.S. defense sector;
- data theft panels RedLine and ransomware programs BianLian;
- the darknet market Blacksprut, associated with drug trafficking.
These groups utilized Aeza’s infrastructure to steal personal data, logins, passwords, and trade synthetic drugs. OFAC has also imposed additional sanctions on the companies Aeza International Ltd. (UK), Aeza Logistic LLC, and Cloud Solutions LLC (Russia) as subsidiaries that supported the activities of Aeza Group.
Additionally, four executives of Aeza Group have been added to the sanctions list:
- Arseniy Penzev — CEO and co-owner (33%), arrested in Russia for hosting the Blacksprut platform;
- Yuri Bozoyan — General Director and co-owner (33%), also arrested;
- Vladimir Hast — Technical Director, responsible for network infrastructure;
- Igor Knyazev — interim manager of Aeza Group during the absence of Penzev and Bozoyan.
All assets and property interests of individuals and companies that are subject to sanctions and are located in the United States or under the control of U.S. persons are to be frozen. U.S. citizens are prohibited from engaging in any financial transactions with these blocked entities.
Previously, OFAC had already imposed sanctions on Russian citizens for spreading disinformation and propaganda. According to FinCEN data, darknet marketplaces are widely used for illegal fentanyl and precursor trafficking, posing a threat to U.S. national security.
Furthermore, at the request of the U.S., Indian police arrested Alexey Beschekov, co-founder of the sanctioned Russian exchange Garantex. Subsequently, Global Ledger analysts reported the discovery of unfrozen Garantex wallets with assets exceeding $15 million.