Suspected LockBit ransomware dev extradited to United States
Published on: 2025-06-16 13:22:52
A dual Russian-Israeli national, suspected of being a key developer for the LockBit ransomware operation, has been extradited to the United States to face charges.
Rostislav Panev, 51, was arrested in Israel last August, where police reportedly found incriminating evidence on his laptop. This included credentials for LockBit's internal control panel and a repository containing source code for LockBit encryptors and the gang's custom data theft tool, StealBit.
In December, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Panev, accusing him of developing LockBit's ransomware encryptors and StealBit.
Over 18 months, between June 2022 and February 2024, Panev allegedly earned $230,000 in cryptocurrency for his work with the group.
Panev has been involved with LockBit ransomware since its inception in 2019, helping operators and affiliates attack over 2,500 entities across 120 countries and extracting ransom payments of over $500,000,000.
Approximately 1,800 victims (72%) were U.S.-based entiti
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