Treasury sanctions Russian firm said to have stolen and sold U.S. cyber tools

The Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned Russian firm Operation Zero and several affiliated individuals for allegedly buying stolen cyber tools originally developed for the U.S. government and reselling them for millions in cryptocurrency.

Treasury also sanctioned the company’s leader, Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk, for the firm’s role in allegedly acquiring the eight proprietary cybersecurity tools built by a U.S. company that were meant for use by the federal government and select allies. The company resold the stolen tools to “at least one unauthorized user,” Treasury said.

Operation Zero trades in cyber exploits, which include various software toolkits containing specialized code built to steal data and compromise computer systems.

Read more at NextGov/FCW