A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in two separate malware schemes, including a cyberattack at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2020, as per the U.S. Department of Justice. Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, also known as Vyacheslav Igoravich Andreev, aged 37, entered his guilty plea on Thursday in federal court in Nebraska to one count of conspiracy to violate U.S. anti-racketeering law and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The details of the case are currently sealed, thus the identity of Penchukov's attorney remains undisclosed. Penchukov was allegedly a key player in a criminal enterprise and conspiracy that initiated infecting numerous business computers with harmful software as early as May 2009. Subsequently, he led another conspiracy that introduced new malware into computers from November 2018 to February 2021, according to federal prosecutors.
This operation facilitated the access of other malicious software, such as ransomware, to infected computers, resulting in the cyberattack at the University of Vermont Medical Center in October 2020, stated the Justice Department. Estimated losses for the medical center ranged from $30 million, as reported by the Department of Justice, to around $50 million, with the majority attributed to lost revenue, according to a hospital official in 2021.
The impact of the attack on the medical center was significant, with critical patient services jeopardized for more than two weeks, raising concerns about the risk of death or severe bodily harm to patients, the Department of Justice highlighted. Additionally, the cybercriminals employed malicious software to acquire sensitive information such as account details, passwords, and personal identification numbers required to access online banking accounts.
The next step in the legal process is Penchukov's sentencing, scheduled for May 9, where he could face a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the counts. Previously a fugitive on the FBI's cyber most-wanted list, Penchukov was apprehended in Switzerland in 2022 and later extradited to the United States.
