Russian hacker wanted for targeting North Texas businesses in ransomware attacks [Video]

DALLAS – The federal government unsealed an indictment for a Russian national wanted for targeting multiple North Texas companies with ransomware attacks. The FBI is actively searching for him.

The ransomware attack is allegedly led by a 31-year-old Russian national. The indictment does not say why North Texas companies were targeted.   

The Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging Aleksandr Ryzhenkov with ransomware attacks against North Texas businesses, but it’s unclear if Ryzhenkov will ever be held accountable for the attacks.

Mitch Thornton is the executive director of SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cybersecurity. He says it’s common for ransomware attacks to be linked to people from other nations, making extradition difficult.

“They hide behind the dark web and multiple VPNs,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot from Russia. We’ve seen some from China. We’ve seen some from North Korea.”

Ransomware can begin with a simple email tricking someone to click on a …