US Sanctions Imposed on Bulletproof Hosting Provider

OFAC added the Russian company Aeza Group, a provider of global Bulletproof hosting services, to its sanctions list, accusing it of supporting cybercriminal activities.

According to the agency, the firm, headquartered in St. Petersburg, sells access to specialized servers and other computer infrastructure used by operators of ransomware, data thieves, and drug traffickers worldwide.

Specifically, Aeza Group has been linked to the operators of the info-stealers Meduza and Lumma, responsible for attacks on American defense-industrial bases and technology companies. Additionally, the company provided infrastructure for the BianLian ransomware, the RedLine info-stealer panel, and the BlackSprut darknet marketplace.

Countermeasures affected three affiliated companies:

• Aeza International Ltd. — a branch of Aeza Group in the United Kingdom;
• Aeza Logistic LLC and Cloud Solutions LLC — subsidiaries based in Russia and 100% owned by Aeza Group.

The co-owners of Aeza Group (each holding 33% of the shares) — Arseniy Penzyev, Yuri Bozoyan, and Igor Knyazev, as well as the technical director Vladimir Gast, were blacklisted. Penzyev and Bozoyan have been arrested in Russia for aiding BlackSprut’s operations.

All assets and equity holdings of the listed companies and individuals in the US are blocked. American citizens are prohibited from conducting business with them.

In February, the Russian hosting provider Zservers was sanctioned for aiding the LockBit ransomware group.

In early March, OFAC included 44 Bitcoin wallets and five Monero addresses linked to the closed darknet marketplace Nemesis Market in the SDN list.