Today, Australia alongside other Western countries, imposed sanctions on two Russian companies involved in cybercrime services, accused of facilitating cyberattacks.

Sanctioned by Australia, the US, and the UK, the companies Media Land LLC and ML Cloud, along with their senior executives Aleksandr Alexandrovich Volosovik and Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, have come under international scrutiny.

The Australian government accuses these organizations of supplying infrastructure for ransomware operations to cybercriminals.

According to Defence Minister Richard Marles, Media Land has been instrumental in enabling cybercriminals to target Australian financial entities, businesses, their clients, and critical global infrastructure.

“These sanctions not only penalize the perpetrators but also dismantle the infrastructure supporting cybercrime,” Marles stated.

“By disrupting these networks, we hinder future attacks and bolster Australia’s defenses against upcoming cyber threats,” he added.

The sanctions announced today make it a criminal offence to provide assets to either Media Land entity or the two sanctioned individuals, or to use or deal with their assets.

Breaching the measures can lead to penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment and/or heavy fines. The sanctions also ban the individuals from entering Australia.

The federal government says Australian individuals and businesses lose lose billions of dollars to cyber scams every year.