
A U.S. court has sentenced a Canadian male to 20 several years in prison for his position in a amount of cyberattacks involving the ransomware NetWalker.

The U.S. Section of Justice announced the sentence on Tuesday for Sebastian Vachon-Desjardins, 35, of Gatineau, Que., in excess of his participation in the NetWalker ransomware attacks, which focused dozens of victims around the globe together with providers, municipalities, hospitals, legislation enforcement, unexpected emergency expert services, college districts, faculties and universities, the office claims.

In certain, the U.S. Division of Justice factors to the use of NetWalker to exclusively focus on the well being-treatment sector throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. District Decide William F. Jung in Tampa, Fla., sentenced Vachon-Desjardins on 4 expenses, which he formerly pleaded guilty to, which include conspiracy to dedicate personal computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, intentional injury to a protected laptop and transmitting a desire in relation to harmful a guarded computer.

As section of the ruling, Vachon-Desjardins ought to also forfeit US$21.5 million.

“The defendant discovered and attacked substantial-price ransomware victims and profited from the chaos induced by encrypting and stealing the victims’ details,” assistant lawyer general Kenneth A. Well mannered Jr. of the U.S. Justice Department’s Felony Division said in a news release issued Tuesday.

“Modern sentence demonstrates that ransomware actors will deal with considerable repercussions for their crimes and exemplifies the Department’s steadfast commitment to pursuing actors who take part in ransomware schemes.”

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Protection describes ransomware as the most popular and rising cyberthreat facing Canadians.

A ransomware attack will involve the use of destructive software to encrypt, steal or delete information, followed by a demand from customers for a ransom payment.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Law enforcement (RCMP) declared in March that Canada’s justice minister had requested the extradition of Vachon-Desjardins to the U.S. following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Florida.

Prior to that, the RCMP mentioned it had been investigating the NetWalker assaults due to the fact August 2020 immediately after getting information and facts and a ask for from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation to assistance establish the suspect.

Police searched Vachon-Desjardins’ household in January 2021, which resulted in the seizure of $790,000 in Canadian currency and 719 bitcoin, value around C$35 million.

At the time, the RCMP stated it was considered to be the most significant seizure of cryptocurrency, by benefit, in the region to day.

Vachon-Desjardins has by now confronted criminal fees in Canada, comparable to the ones in the U.S., which include unauthorized use of a pc, mischief in relation to pc information, extortion and collaborating in a legal group.

The RCMP reported he finally pleaded responsible to the latter a few and in January 2022, a Brampton, Ont., court sentenced Vachon-Desjardins to 7 several years in prison, as properly as the forfeiture of 680 bitcoin, most of his seized computing gadgets and $742,840. The judgment also bundled a restitution order of a lot more than $2.6 million to enterprises impacted by the ransomware assaults.

Reuters noted in March that a LinkedIn profile for a Sebastien Vachon, which appeared to match the accused’s description, confirmed he previously worked as an IT expert for General public Functions and Federal government Companies Canada.

With data files from Reuters
