Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, a Russian hacker actively sought by the American government, made a fool of himself with his pursuers. Accused of having participated in several ransomware attacks, the hacker allowed himself a small tackle with the FBI on his X account.
Last May, American justice indicted Mikhail Pavlovich Matveyev, a 30-year-old Russian, for his ties to several ransomware gangs. Also known under the pseudonym Wazawaka, m1x or Uhodiransomwar, the hacker is accused of having collaborated with several of the largest cybercriminal gangs in the world. The man has notably worked with Babuk, LockBit and Hive. It is involved in a plethora of large-scale cyberattacks.
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A prolific Russian hacker
Above all, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev is accused of having participated in hacking of the Washington police network in 2021 with the support of the Babuk Pirates. By his own admission, he was also involved in the hack of the publisher Capcom in 2020. Infected by the Ragnar Locker ransomware, the Japanese company lost the data of 364,000 customers, partners, employees and job candidates.
The Russian hacker is not behind the ransomware used in the attacks. Matveev is rather a master in the Art of intrusion. On behalf of cybercriminals, it searches for and finds security vulnerabilities allowing them to penetrate a computer system. Once the 30-year-old has located the front door, the hackers just have to deploy their ransomware.
Determined to get their hands on the hacker, the United States justice system then offered a reward of ten million dollars for any information leading to the arrest of Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev. Despite the generosity of the authorities, the Russian hacker is still at large. In the process, the FBI pinned Matveev on the list of hackers most wanted by its investigators.
The hacker who trolls the FBI
Months after his indictment, Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev made headlines on his X account (formerly Twitter). The cybercriminal from Russia published a photo showing a t-shirt with his image. As you can see below, the hacker printed the FBI wanted notice (visible on the Bureau website) on a t-shirt.
Ку ку pic.twitter.com/SCdBJkOXYE
— BorisElcin (@ransomboris) September 2, 2023
The FBI has in fact dedicated a page of its site to cybercriminals. Federal agents specify that Matveev is actively sought for “computer intrusion”, “conspiracy”And “intentional damage to a protected computer”.
Subsequently, the hacker even asked his subscribers if he should launch derivative products bearing his image. Our colleagues at TechCrunch were able to confirm that Matveev was indeed behind the account thanks to several photo exchanges. In a video shared on X, the hacker reveals that the indictment has not changed his life at all. Based in Russia, the cybercriminal can continue to evade American authorities thanks to the tolerance of Russian police. The latter is regularly accused of ignoring the presence of pirates on Russian territory. By Matveev’s admission, the Russian government tolerates the activities of hackers, as long as they remain loyal to the Kremlin.
Source :
TechCrunch