United States of America v. Oleksii Oleksiyovych Lytvynenko

Nashville, Tennessee, criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with conspiracy to deploy Conti ransomware.

Reported by Kent Morlan

Oleksii Oleksiyovych Lytvynenko, of Cork, Ireland, conspired with others to deploy Conti ransomware to extort victims and steal their data. Court filings allege the conspirators hacked into victims’ computers and networks, encrypted data, and demanded a ransom to restore the victims’ access to their files and to avoid public disclosure of the stolen information. From 2020 until 2022, Conti was used to attack computers and networks in 47 states, 31 foreign countries, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The FBI estimates that, as of January 2022, Conti ransomware attacks resulted in at least $150 million in ransom payments.

Lytvynenko admitted to joining the Conti conspiracy no later than approximately September 2021. He admitted to possessing data from eight U.S. and four overseas victims which had been stolen by Conti conspirators. Lytvynenko further admitted to joining a team run by a Conti conspirator during which time Lytvynenko was directed to work on coding a “loader,” which is typically a type of malware, or malicious software, that is used to load programs necessary to execute other malicious attacks.

the Defendant elected to plead guilt.