Former Canadian government employee faces as many as 40 years in prison under the terms of the agreement
Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins has agreed to plead guilty to hacking-related charges, according to court documents filed Tuesday in federal court in Tampa. He was accused of working as part of a digital extortion group known as NetWalker.
The ransomware gang has targeted U.S. hospitals, law enforcement organizations, schools, colleges and universities, according to the FBI. The blockchain-analysis firm Chainalysis Inc. has determined that victims have paid US$46 million in extortion fees to the NetWalker hackers since 2020.
The U.S. Justice Department announced in March that Vachon-Desjardins, of Gatineau, Quebec, had been extradited to Florida from Canada. The U.S. government also seized the equivalent of US$28 million in Bitcoin from Vachon-Desjardins at the time he was extradited. The NetWalker gang offers ransomware-as-a-service, meaning it leases its malware to “affiliates” for a cut of the illegal proceeds. Vachon-Desjardins was described by the DOJ as an affiliate and accused of converting Bitcoin stolen from ransomware victims into Canadian currency. But the full extent of his alleged involvement in cyberattacks isn’t immediately clear.
The defendant previously worked for the department of Public Services and Procurement Canada, an agency that works on real estate for the federal government, according to CBC News.Article content
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