Third member of LockBit ransomware gang has been arrested

U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey on Friday publicly announced charges against Rostislav Panev, 51, a dual Russian-Israeli national accused of being a key developer in the LockBit ransomware gang. Panev is currently in Israeli custody and faces extradition to the United States.

LockBit is one of the most prolific ransomware gangs, accused of launching crippling data-stealing cyberattacks at thousands of companies around the world, including the U.S., and thought to be responsible for at least $500 million in ransom payments alone. Authorities identified and seized LockBit’s infrastructure in a February takedown operation, but LockBit briefly bounced back as its leader, named by U.K. and U.S. authorities as Dmitry Khoroshev, remains at large.

That’s three for three, per prosecutors, after nabbing LockBit affiliates Mikhail Vasiliev in Canada in 2022, then Ruslan Astamirov in the U.S. in 2023, and now Panev, out of a total of seven LockBit members indicted to date.