A former Canadian government employee accused of carrying out dozens of ransomware attacks has been extradited to the United States, with more than $28 million in bitcoin seized in connection with the case.
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins, who worked as an IT consultant for Public Works and Government Services in Canada, according to his LinkedIn profile, was extradited to the U.S. on Wednesday, where he will face multiple charges related to his alleged participation with the NetWalker ransomware group, the U.S. Justice Department announced this week.
NetWalker, also known as “Mailto,” is a prolific ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) operation that enlists affiliates to deploy ransomware in return for a share of the ransom payment. The group first surfaced in 2019 and has since been linked to several high-profile attacks. In June 2020, the group targeted the University of California San Francisco, which paid a ransom of more than $1 million. Three months …
