Today Australia has imposed sanctions against two Russian cybercrime service providers - Media Land LLC and ML. Cloud LLC - and two of their key personnel - Aleksandr Alexandrovich Volosovik and Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin. Australia has taken this action in partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States.
These organisations have provided their ransomware infrastructure to malicious cyber actors and cybercriminals, allowing them to conduct cyber attacks in Australia and around the world.
Media Land has helped enable criminals to conduct attacks against Australian financial institutions, Australian businesses, their customers, and critical international infrastructure.
This is the fifth time we have activated Australia's autonomous cyber sanctions framework, part of the Albanese Government's coordinated action against cybercrime.
The sanctions make it a criminal offence to provide assets to either Media Land entity or the two sanctioned individuals, or to use or deal with their assets, with penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and/or heavy fines. The sanctions also ban the individuals from entering Australia.
Today's sanctions are the result of the close collaboration between the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Signals Directorate, and international partners. This demonstrates our collective commitment to deterring and responding to cybercrime and protecting our citizens.
Australians continue to be targeted by malicious cyber actors, and lose billions to cyber scams each year. Cyber sanctions are a key tool to impose costs on cyber actors and protect Australians from this threat. As outlined in the 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, the Australian Government is consistently working to deter and respond to malicious cyber activity.
Australians should report cybercrimes, incidents or vulnerabilities to the Australian Signals Directorate at 1300 CYBER1 (1300 292 371) or https://www.cyber.gov.au/report. Australian businesses can help protect themselves from ransomware and phishing attacks by updating devices, regularly backing up files and ensuring staff know to never visit suspicious websites, open emails from unknown sources or click on suspicious links.
Quotes attributable to Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles:
"The Australian Government is taking strong steps to strike back against malicious cyber activity. These actions are about defending our national security and ensuring Australians can live and work safely in a digital world
"This latest cyber sanction builds on previous actions and demonstrates our relentless pursuit of those who seek to harm Australians.
"These sanctions don't just impose costs on criminals, they dismantle the infrastructure that enables cybercrime. By disrupting these networks, we make it harder for others to launch attacks and it strengthens Australia's resilience against future threats."
Quotes attributable to Foreign Minister Penny Wong:
"The Albanese Government is working to strengthen Australia's resilience and keep Australians safe from cyber criminals.
"Working across government and with international partners, we will continue to take action against Russia, to disrupt cybercrime and hold malicious cyber actors to account."
Quotes attributable to Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Tony Burke:
"We will continue to do everything we can to break down the networks and alienate the individuals who are driving cyber attacks against Australia and Australian interests.
"This is one of the fastest growing threats our country faces and our government will ensure we are ready to face it."
