Rostislav Panev, a 51-year-old with Russian and Israeli citizenship, has been extradited to the United States to fight ransomware. He is suspected of having been a prominent developer of the notorious LockBit ransomware group.
Panev was arrested in Israel in August and has now been extradited to U.S. authorities. Upon his arrest, investigators found on his computer administrator credentials for an online repository hosted on the dark web. The repository held source code for several versions of the LockBit builder.
According to the indictment, Panev was involved with LockBit as a developer from its inception in 2019. He allegedly received about $10,000 (about 9,200 euros) a month in cryptocurrency for his work, totaling more than $230,000.
Part of larger operation
The arrest follows a major international operation against LockBit in February 2024, in which police forces worldwide disrupted the group’s infrastructure. The ransomware group is believed to be responsible for attacks on more than 2,500 victims in 120 countries, including 1,800 in the United States.
The arrest is part of a broader crackdown against LockBit. European police forces have made multiple arrests and seized servers. Seven LockBit members, including alleged lead developer Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, have now been indicted in New Jersey.