The leader of the Russian ransomware group LockBit has been exposed. Police services around the world are searching for the cybercriminal, who faces a prison sentence of up to 185 years.

Europol, the United States and the United Kingdom have issued an international arrest warrant for Dimitri Yuryevich Khoroshev. The British secret service NCA even had a joke: on X it shared a countdown clock for the revelation.

This name probably won’t sound immediately familiar to you, but LockBit certainly will. Khoroshev has been revealed as the leader of the feared Russian hacker group. Normally, it is almost impossible to determine the identity of cybercriminals. The disclosure of Khoroshev’s identity is the result of an international police operation against LockBit.

In February, it was reported that the gang had been disbanded, although LockBit had recovered within a short period of time. The group’s activities have been on hold for a while since the police operation.

185 years in prison

Police forces around the world now hope to prosecute Khoroshev for his crimes. The 31-year-old Russian has to answer in court for, among other things, fraud, blackmail, conspiracy and hacking. Khoroshev faces a prison sentence of up to 185 years.

The hardest part might be getting Khoroshev. Khoroshev probably lives in Russia. Moscow is not in the habit of handing over (cyber) criminals to the West. The U.S. government is offering a $10 million reward for information leading to an arrest.

LockBit killed thousands of victims worldwide with ransomware, from government services to children’s hospitals. There may be a network of almost 200 people behind the organization. The question is whether Khoroshev’s imprisonment will be enough to finally put an end to the gang. In our country, the group is best known for an attack on the municipality of Geraardsbergen.