PRESS RELEASE : UK and allies sanctions Russian cyber hacker [January 2024]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 23 January 2024.
The UK, US and Australia have sanctioned a Russia-based cyber hacker in coordinated action aimed at cracking down on international cyber crime.
Today’s sanctions target Russian national Aleksandr Ermakov who has been identified by the Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Federal Police along with international partners as a key actor in the Australia Medibank cyber attack in 2022.
The attack, largely considered one of the worst cyber incidents in Australia’s history saw 9.7 million customers’ records, containing medical and personal data, and data on over 480,000 health claims leaked on the dark web.
The data leaked contained highly sensitive medical information about individuals’ treatment, including records on mental health, sexual health and drug use.
Today’s measures will hold the individual responsible for this atrocious attack accountable. Ermakov will now be subject to a series of asset freezes and travel bans.
The UK has sanctioned Aleksandr Ermakov as part of our wider commitment to cracking down on malicious cyber activity and working with our international partners to promote international security and stability in cyberspace.
Sanctions Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:
We stand with our allies in Australia and the US and will continue to hold cyber hackers to account for damaging cyber attacks designed to undermine global democracies.
These cynical and reckless attacks cause real damage to people’s lives and livelihoods. We must work together to call out and combat these malicious attacks.
These sanctions have been delivered jointly with Australia and the US and are the latest in our efforts to counter malicious cyber criminal activity emanating from Russia that seeks to undermine our, and our allies’, integrity and prosperity.
