Ukrainian Man Pleads Guilty in US to Conti Ransomware Charges

A 44-year-old Ukrainian national has pleaded guilty in US court to his role in the notorious Conti ransomware group, which targeted over 1,000 organizations between 2020 and 2022. Oleksii Lytvynenko admitted to developing malware for the operation starting in September 2021 and possessing data from 12 victims including eight in the US, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison. The Conti ransomware gang is estimated to have collected at least 150 million dollars in ransom payments before shutting down in May 2022 after pledging support for the Russian government.