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Companies Linked to Russian Ransomware Hide in Plain Sight

Cybersecurity experts tracing money paid by American businesses to Russian ransomware gangs found it led to one of Moscow’s most prestigious addresses.

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By Andrew E. Kramer

MOSCOW — When cybersleuths traced the millions of dollars American companies, hospitals and city governments have paid to online extortionists in ransom money, they made a telling discovery: At least some of it passed through one of the most prestigious business addresses in Moscow.

The Biden administration has also zeroed in on the building, Federation Tower East, the tallest skyscraper in the Russian capital. The United States has targeted several companies in the tower as it seeks to penalize Russian ransomware gangs, which encrypt their victims’ digital data and then demand payments to unscramble it.

Those payments are typically made in cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies like Bitcoin, which the gangs then need to convert to standard currencies, like dollars, euros and rubles.

That this high-rise in Moscow’s financial district has emerged as an apparent hub of such money laundering has convinced many security experts that the Russian authorities tolerate ransomware operators. The targets are almost exclusively outside Russia, they point out, and in at least one case documented in a U.S. sanctions announcement, the suspect was assisting a Russian espionage agency.

“It says a lot,” said Dmitry Smilyanets, a threat intelligence expert with the Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. “Russian law enforcement usually has an answer: ‘There is no case open in Russian jurisdiction. There are no victims. How do you expect us to prosecute these honorable people?’”

Recorded Future has counted about 50 cryptocurrency exchanges in Moscow City, a financial district in the capital, that in its assessment are engaged in illicit activity. Other exchanges in the district are not suspected of accepting cryptocurrencies linked to crime.

Cybercrime is just one of many issues fueling tensions between Russia and the United States, along with the Russian military buildup near Ukraine and a recent migrant crisis on the Belarus-Polish border.

The Treasury Department has estimated that Americans have paid $1.6 billion in ransoms since 2011. One Russian ransomware strain, Ryuk, made an estimated $162 million last year encrypting the computer systems of American hospitals during the pandemic and demanding fees to release the data, according to Chainalysis, a company tracking cryptocurrency transactions.

The hospital attacks cast a spotlight on the rapidly expanding criminal industry of ransomware, which is based primarily in Russia. Criminal syndicates have become more efficient, and brazen, in what has become a conveyor-belt-like process of hacking, encrypting and then negotiating for ransom in cryptocurrencies, which can be owned anonymously.

At a summit meeting in June, President Biden pressed President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to crack down on ransomware after a Russian gang, DarkSide, attacked a major gasoline pipeline on the East Coast, Colonial Pipeline , disrupting supplies and creating lines at gas stations.

American officials point to people like Maksim Yakubets, a skinny 34-year-old with a pompadour haircut whom the United States has identified as a kingpin of a major cybercrime operation calling itself Evil Corp. Cybersecurity analysts have linked his group to a series of ransomware attacks, including one last year targeting the National Rifle Association. A U.S. sanctions announcement accused Mr. Yakubets of also assisting Russia’s Federal Security Service, the main successor to the K.G.B.

But after the State Department announced a $5 million bounty for information leading to his arrest, Mr. Yakubets seemed only to flaunt his impunity in Russia: He was photographed driving in Moscow in a Lamborghini partially painted fluorescent yellow.

The cluster of suspected cryptocurrency exchanges in Federation Tower East, first reported last month by Bloomberg News, further illustrates how the Russian ransomware industry hides in plain sight.

The 97-floor, glass-and-steel high-rise resting on a bend in the Moscow River stands within sight of several government ministries in the financial district, including the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Signals and Mass Communications .

Two of the Biden administration’s most forceful actions to date targeting ransomware are linked to the tower. In September, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a cryptocurrency exchange called Suex, which has offices on the 31st floor. It accused the company of laundering $160 million in illicit funds.

In an interview at the time, a founder of Suex, Vasily Zhabykin, denied any illegal activity.

And last month, Russian news media outlets reported that Dutch police, using a U.S. extradition warrant, had detained the owner, Denis Dubnikov, of another firm called EggChange, with an office on the 22nd floor. In a statement issued by one of his companies, Mr. Dubnikov denied any wrongdoing.

Ransomware is attractive to criminals, cybersecurity experts say, because the attacks take place mostly anonymously and online, minimizing the chances of getting caught. It has mushroomed into a sprawling, highly compartmentalized industry in Russia known to cybersecurity researchers as “ransomware as a service.”

The organizational structure mimics franchises, like McDonald’s or Hertz, that lower barriers to entry, allowing less sophisticated hackers to use established business practices to get into the business. Several high-level gangs develop software and promote fearsome-sounding brands, such as DarkSide or Maze, to intimidate businesses and other organizations that are targets. Other groups that are only loosely related hack into computer systems using the brand and franchised software.

The industry’s growth has been abetted by the rise of cryptocurrencies. That has made old-school money mules, who sometimes had to smuggle cash across borders, practically obsolete.

Laundering the cryptocurrency through exchanges is the final step, and also the most vulnerable, because criminals must exit the anonymous online world to appear at a physical location, where they trade Bitcoin for cash or deposit it in a bank.

The exchange offices are “the end of the Bitcoin and ransomware rainbow,” said Gurvais Grigg, a former F.B.I. agent who is a researcher with Chainalysis, the cryptocurrency tracking company.

The computer codes in virtual currencies allow transactions to be tracked from one user to another, even if the owners’ identities are anonymous, until the cryptocurrency reaches an exchange. There, in theory, records should link the cryptocurrency with a real person or company.

“They are really one of the key points in the whole ransomware strain,” Mr. Grigg said of the exchange offices. Ransomware gangs, he said, “want to make money. And until you cash it out, and you get it through an exchange at a cash-out point, you cannot spend it.”

It is at this point, cybersecurity experts say, that criminals should be identified and apprehended. But the Russian government has allowed the exchanges to flourish, saying that it only investigates cybercrime if Russian laws are violated. Regulations are a gray area in Russia, as elsewhere, in the nascent industry of cryptocurrency trading.

Russian cryptocurrency traders say the United States is imposing an unfair burden of due diligence on their companies, given the quickly evolving nature of regulations.

“The people who are real criminals, who create ransomware, and the people working in Moscow City are completely different people,” Sergei Mendeleyev, a founder of one trader based in Federation Tower East, Garantex, said in an interview. The Russian crypto exchanges, he said, were blamed for crimes they are unaware of.

Mr. Mendeleyev, who no longer works at the company, said American cryptocurrency tracking services provide data to non-Russian exchanges to help them avoid illicit transactions but have refused to work with Russian traders — in part because they suspect the traders might use the information to tip off criminals. That complicates the Russian companies’ efforts to root out illegal activity.

He conceded that not all Russian exchanges tried very hard. Some based in Moscow’s financial district were little more than an office, a safe full of cash and a computer, he said.

At least 15 cryptocurrency exchanges are based in Federation Tower East, according to a list of businesses in the building compiled by Yandex, a Russian mapping service.

In addition to Suex and EggChange, the companies targeted by the Biden administration, cyberresearchers and an international cryptocurrency exchange company have flagged two other building tenants that they suspect of illegal activity involving Bitcoin.

The building manager, Aeon Corp., did not respond to inquiries about the exchanges in its offices.

Like the banks and insurance companies they share space with, those firms are likely to have chosen the site for its status and its stringent building security, said Mr. Smilyanets, the researcher at Recorded Future.

“The Moscow City skyscrapers are very fancy,” he said. “They can post on Instagram with these beautiful sights, beautiful skyscrapers. It boosts their legitimacy.”

An earlier version of a picture caption with this article misstated the year in which Colonial Pipeline was hacked. It was 2021, not 2020.

How we handle corrections

Andrew E. Kramer is a reporter based in the Moscow bureau. He was part of a team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for a series on Russia’s covert projection of power. More about Andrew E. Kramer

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Moscow residents full of questions for Home Depot

Nov. 4—Moscow residents pressed Home Depot officials on matters like traffic, jobs and water use during a community meeting Friday in Moscow.

In August, the Idaho State Board of Education unanimously approved a ground lease between Home Depot and the University of Idaho to build a 138,000-square-foot store and garden center on UI land just north of the Palouse Mall. Home Depot plans to open the store in 2025.

According to Moscow's city code, a large retailer like Home Depot is required to hold a community meeting before establishing a store in the city. Approximately 50 people attended that meeting Friday at the Best Western Plus University Inn.

People who attended, including employees of Moscow-Pullman Building Supply, questioned the officials about the economic effects of introducing Home Depot into a small community like Moscow.

Barry Simmons, Home Depot's real estate manager, said many smaller businesses actually want to be close to Home Depot stores because they drive traffic to the area.

Dan Zoldak, the site development coordinator for Home Depot, said it will benefit the community by bringing business and jobs to the market. He said Home Depot stores also attract contractors to cities they are located in.

According to Home Depot, the company drives $1 billion in economic activity in Idaho already.

Home Depot plans to hire 150 to 200 part-time and full-time employees in the Moscow store. This topic sparked some debate Friday as the Home Depot officials did not know what percentage of its employees will be part-time.

Alan Espenschade, director of operations for Moscow-Pullman Building Supply, said many local companies primarily hire full-time employees. He said 85 to 90% of Moscow-Pullman Building Supply's employees are full-time.

To compete with Home Depot's prices, Espenschade said Moscow-Pullman Building Supply may have to consider hiring fewer full-time employees,"which goes against our entire culture."

"It's the ideology of a big box store versus your more small to mid-level mom and pop stores.," he said.

Espenschade assumed that Home Depot would hire a much larger percentage of part-time employees, but the Home Depot officials could not say with certainty what that percentage would be.

"We cannot honestly tell you two years in the future how many part-time employees it will have," said Eric Douglas, manager of Home Depot's government relations.

Several people, including Moscow City Council candidate Evan Holmes, brought up concerns about the store's water use. Holmes asked for Home Depot to show the community a plan to minimize its water consumption.

Zoldak said the store will meet Moscow's low-flow requirements and use drought-tolerant landscaping. They also appeared open to the suggestion of recapturing rainwater from the store's roof.

Others pointed out that this does not account for the water required to sustain Home Depot's garden center. Tyler Garrett, Moscow-Pullman Building Supply CEO, said Home Depot said his store uses hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per year on its nursery.

As for traffic effects, Home Depot completed a traffic study that has not yet been approved by the city of Moscow. Home Depot plans to cover the cost of extending A Street along the front of the store. Zoldak said there will probably be a four-way stop at the A Street and Farm Road intersection.

Garrett said that section of A Street is already busy with traffic, and he is worried the new store will create "a traffic jam for blocks."

The Moscow store will likely reduce the amount of people driving to the Lewiston Home Depot. Simmons said about 20% of Lewiston's sales will migrate to the Moscow store.

"I do believe there is a good portion of the community here that would benefit from a Home Depot and actually prefer not to have to drive as far to get some of the materials they need," Simmons said.

The Home Depot district manager who oversees the Lewiston store did not attend Friday's meeting.

When asked about the lights outside the Home Depot, Zoldak said the lights will be dimmed after the store closes each night.

Zoldak said he believes the store meets all of the city's codes, but the plans still have to be approved by Moscow officials. He said the store is not a done deal, but he hopes to start getting construction bids in December or January.

Some questioned why Moscow city officials were not present at the meeting.

Moscow City Supervisor Bill Belknap said that Friday's gathering was an informal, off-record meeting. He said the city issues permits for this project, so it would not be appropriate for anyone affiliated with the city government to be present at such an event.

"The City is the permitting authority and members of the City's Zoning Board of Adjustment and City Council may be called to act as hearing examiners to consider any appeals based upon the official record," Belknap wrote in an email. "As a result, it is not appropriate for staff or the Mayor or City Council to participate in the meeting or gather information outside the official record which could jeopardize their ability to participate as hearing examiners."

Espenschade said after the meeting he is worried this store signals a paradigm shift for Moscow, which he fears is becoming homogenized like other cities.

"You used to come to Moscow, Idaho, because you could buy a coffee at One World, not Starbucks," he said. "You could go to Moscow-Building Supply, not Home Depot."

He said competition is great for the consumer and even businesses, but he is concerned Moscow is losing its identity.

"Everything's becoming vanilla," he said.

Kuipers can be reached at [email protected] .

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In less than two seasons, Braden Smith elevated himself into the pantheon of Purdue basketball point guards.

The Bob Cousy award finalist for the nation's top point guard already is breaking Boilermaker records and is on his way to more.

Smith, a first-team All-Big Ten selection this season, also is putting himself in rarified air with his ability to score, rebound, pass and defend. According to college basketball reference, since 1947 only seven players have collected 725 points, 375 assists and 325 rebounds by the end of their sophomore season. Smith is one of those. He's the only Big Ten player other than Magic Johnson.

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Lewis Jackson, 2008-12

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Tony Jones, 1986-90

Credentials: Until Smith, Jones, who went on to become a pilot, was the last Purdue point guard to average the most assists in the conference season. Jones is tied for third all-time in career assists with 481. He helped Purdue win back-to-back Big Ten championships in 1987-88 and make three NCAA tournament appearances, including one Sweet 16 while scoring 1,041 career points. Jones was a two-time Purdue Most Valuable Player and was on the gold medal team at the 1989 World University Games.

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Jones on Smith: “Confidence is the word I would use. An aviation analogy I use; different aircraft have personalities. I would compare him to the A-10 Warthog. It’s called a tank killer. It flies where all the conflict is going on. It’s a tough aircraft, a reliable aircraft and very effective. With his arsenal, he can shoot the 3, he plays defense and he can handle the ball. He can score in the lane. He’s smart and he manages the game well. He is what you call a true point guard. Any tournament, you look at the guard play. There have been teams that were weak down low, but they had great guard play and it got them to the Final Four. Braden has experience since he’s been starting since day one.”

Billy Keller, 1966-69

Credentials: Scored 1,056 career points in three seasons before freshmen were eligible. Keller was the starting point guard on Purdue’s 1969 NCAA runner-up team that lost to UCLA in the final and earned the nation’s Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award after the season. He played seven seasons for the Indiana Pacers, helping them to five ABA finals appearances and three championships and ranks second in career 3-pointers, second in career free throw percentage and 14 th in career assists in ABA history.

Keller on Smith: “He’s such a smart point guard. He knows where everybody is on the floor and knows what every position is supposed to be doing. He always has his head up and is always calm, cool and collected. He knows what he wants to do and very seldom gets himself into trouble. He handles the ball well. He shoots it well. He does everything well and he is really fun to watch. I imagine these guys on the floor really enjoy playing with him because if they get open, they know he is going to get the ball to them. It is important for a point guard to understand where everybody is on the floor. He’s always trying to put players in their strengths and that’s really important. I hope there’s a lot of kids out there who watch him and try to duplicate what he does.”

Bruce Parkinson, 1972-77

Credentials: Parkinson is Purdue’s career leader in assists with 690 and owns the school record for a single game with 18 against Minnesota in 1975. Until Smith broke it this season, Parkinson’s 207 in the 1974-75 campaign was a Purdue record. Parkinson’s son Austin went on to be a heralded Purdue point guard after teaming with Smith’s father Dustin at Northwestern High School outside of Kokomo. Parkinson averaged 6.2 assists per game over his career and also scored 1,224 career points, helping the Boilermakers win the 1974 NIT championship. Parkinson was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1976 NBA draft and by the Washington Bullets in the 1977 draft and in 1975 won a gold medal with Team USA at the Pan American Games.

Parkinson on Smith: “He is the first guard I’ve ever worried about since I left that might break my assist record. If he keeps up, he’s going to break it. He sees things nobody else sees and he does it with a little bit of flair. But the only thing he is concerned about is winning. He’s got a lot of needy hands out there that he is feeding. It is kind of magical what he does.”

Steve Reid, 1981-85

Credentials: Reid, a two-time academic All-American, ranks ninth on Purdue’s career assists list despite playing his first season at Kansas State. He scored 1,084 points in three seasons with the Boilermakers, helping take Purdue to three NCAA tournaments and the 1984 Big Ten title. Known for his scoring ability, like Smith, Reid averaged 12-plus points per game in each of his three seasons with the Boilermakers.

Reid on Smith: “He has a tremendous amount of energy. He has an extremely high basketball IQ. And he has a short memory. He makes a turnover or something happens and he’s right back in the next play. Point guards have to. Like a quarterback, you can make a turnover or take a bad shot but the ball is going to be back in your hand in another 30 seconds and the team is going to depend on you to make a good play. It appears that he looked at his freshman year and identified some weaknesses and worked on those. His shooting this year adds another dimension. That is a tough deal when you have his talent and can put the ball in the basket from the perimeter but people know he’s willing to give the ball up. He is just an excellent point guard.”

Jerry Sichting, 1975-79

Credentials: After finishing his career as a 52% shooter with 1,161 career points along with a Big Ten title his senior season, Sichting was selected by the Warriors in the 1979 NBA draft. He played 10 years in the NBA, including with the 1985-86 NBA champion Celtics. Following his NBA career, Sichting was an NBA assistant coach for more than two decades.

Sichting on Smith: “It’s the old cliché that he’s the straw that stirs the drink. He makes it all happen for that team. He has improved a lot from last year, even from the start of the season until now. It shows how much work and dedication he puts into it. He is improving at a really rapid rate when you compare him to a lot of other players. Zach Edey is obviously having a fantastic year and a lot of that you have to attribute to Smith and the way he can get him the ball in a lot of different angles. From game to game, Smith basically does whatever it takes to win. He can go without scoring and almost be the best player on the floor.”

Everette Stephens, 1984-88

Credentials: A member of the legendary “Three Amigos” with Troy Lewis and Todd Mitchell who ranks third in career assists with 481, Stephens also was the team MVP in 1988. Helped Purdue go 96-28 with four NCAA tournament appearances, including a No. 1 seed in 1988. Scored 1,044 career points before being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers and having a six-year professional career that included stints with the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.

Stephens on Smith: “He has all the skills and mindset. Point guards don’t always have all of those clicking at such a high level. IQ. Athletic. Can shoot. He’s very good at discerning the offense and running plays. There’s so many things he does so well, even rebounding. When you can get that kind of rebounding a 6-feet, it shows you his knack for that particular skill. Having another year under year under his belt, he’s refined all of that and gotten better. The one thing he lacked his freshman year, which I think is so unfair, it’s one of those things where much is given, much is required. You’ve seen all that potential, but he was a freshman. Even I felt the same way. I wanted more because I saw it. But it’s a process. He is someone who is willing to step up and be the lead now and they need that.”

PJ Thompson, 2014-18

Credentials: Thompson started 97 games, running the point his final three seasons, and ranks second in program history in assists-to-turnover ratio. Thompson played in four NCAA tournaments and was the starting point guard for a pair of Sweet 16 teams, including the 2017 Big Ten championship squad.

Thompson on Smith: “He has everything he needs. He just needed experience. Having that year of experience has helped him because you can see how the college game is played. He is a sharp-minded kid, not your normal 20-year-old. He understands basketball at a way higher level, but he hasn’t stopped learning. He is still going game to game looking at the past game and how you can improve. When you have a gift that he has already as far as talent level and you put the work behind it, I think you’re destined to be great. A lot of people associate his success with Zach, and sure, there’s a difference with Zach Edey on a pick and roll instead of a normal center, but Zach’s success is as big a contributor to him. It’s not fair Braden gets flack for that. He’s one of the best point guards Purdue has had and he’s getting better. He’s going to get a lot better.”

Matt Waddell, 1991-95

Credentials: Like Smith, Waddell played with a National Player of the Year in Glenn Robinson. Waddell ranks sixth at Purdue in career assists with 460 and also scored 1,170 career points, helping the Boilermakers win two Big Ten titles and make three NCAA tournament appearances, including going to the Elite Eight in 1994. His son, Brian, faced Smith in high school and is a current redshirt sophomore with Purdue.

Waddell on Smith: “I’ve seen that confidence since he was in eighth grade. Certainly from last year to this year you can see his ability that if he makes a couple turnovers, he’s forgotten about them already. That was how he was in high school. He forgot about plays immediately and just moved to the next one. As a freshman, you can let those wear on you a little bit. Certainly as a sophomore, and you’ll see that jump again as a junior where it’s moving to the next play. Braden has had that confidence and swag and that nasty, and I say nasty in a very complimentary way. He’s had that in him for a long time on the court. That’s a point guard. You’ve got to be a good leader and play with that edge and he certainly does that.

Brian Walker, 1977-81

Credentials: Walker, a two-time Purdue team MVP recipient, ranks second on Purdue’s career assists list with 572 despite only playing three seasons for the Boilermakers. Including his season at North Carolina State, Walker totaled 632 career assists. Playing alongside eventual NBA No. 1 overall pick Joe Barry Carroll, Walker is the last Purdue point guard to start in the Final Four when he helped lead the Boilermakers in 1980 and also helped Purdue win the 1979 Big Ten championship. Walker averaged better than 5 assists in each of his three seasons starting for Purdue before being drafted by the Kansas City Kings in the 1981 NBA draft.

Walker on Smith: “What’s good about Braden is he sees the floor like no other. He can anticipate where a player is going to be and throw the ball there, not wait until they get there. He can anticipate when someone is going to be open and he sets up his teammates. You look and see someone setting a back pick for your teammate, you have to know if it’s a good pick or not and then you have to read the defenders. You have a millisecond and make two quick decisions in your brain if your teammate is going to be open. You make a pass to them before they get there. It’s like a good quarterback and the ball is in the air before they turn. I watch every game and I am just amazed how he just runs in and gets a rebound. Everybody else has everybody blocked out and he gets the rebound sometimes at rim level. He’s intelligent and understands the game of basketball and reads things tremendously well.”

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.