INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United States and Britain have sanctioned seven Russian citizens over their alleged membership in the notorious cybercrime gang
have close links to Russia's intelligence services, have had their assets frozen and have been issued with a travel ban by both
countries.Trickbot, which first became known to security experts in 2016, originated as a trojan virus aimed at non-Russian businesses that
stole financial data and infected millions of computers worldwide.The virus was subsequently developed as a highly adaptable malware that
was used to target United States healthcare providers during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic
Once computer systems were infected, the gang would demand the payment of a ransom to remove the virus, even bragging about the speed with
which most United States medical facilities paid up.The joint sanctions levied by Washington and London are the first of their kind, the
Treasury Department said."The United States and the U.K
are leaders in the global fight against cybercrime and are committed to using all available tools to defend against cyber threats," United
cybercrime."The United States Treasury statement noted that since 2020 Trickbot had been aligned "to Russian state objectives" which
included "targeting the United States government and United States companies."British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that "cynical
We will always put our national security first by protecting the U.K
and our allies from serious organized crime."
