Maksim Silnikau, a 40-year-old Belarusian national, was sentenced to 16 years in prison for creating and operating Ransom Cartel, a ransomware-as-a-service operation that targeted at least 18 companies between 2021 and 2023. He built the criminal enterprise by providing locking software, stolen credentials, and an affiliate management system, routing ransom payments through cryptocurrency mixers. A separate federal case in New Jersey related to the Angler Exploit Kit malvertising scheme remains unresolved, with two co-defendants still at large.
