On September 26, the US government imposed sanctions against Russian virtual financial platforms PM2BTC, Cryptex and individual Russian citizens for cybercriminal activities and money laundering.
Points of attention
- The US government imposed sanctions against Russian virtual financial platforms PM2BTC, Cryptex, and individual Russian citizens for cybercriminal activities and money laundering.
- Cooperation between US government agencies and international partners is crucial in the implementation of sanctions to combat cybercrime and money laundering.
- The US State Department is offering a reward for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of sanctions violators, highlighting the seriousness of the situation.
- The USA introduced new sanctions against Russia in the IT sphere, affecting various services and companies involved in the Russian market.
- The American restrictions aim to prevent the provision of IT services to legal entities in Russia, affecting companies like Atlassian, Notion, Jira, SAP, Autodesk, Oracle, Trello, and others.
The USA adopted new sanctions against Russia
This is stated in the official message of the US Treasury.
Today, the US Treasury Department is taking action as part of a coordinated international effort to shut down Russian cybercriminal services.
In particular, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is imposing restrictions against Russian virtual currency exchange PM2BTC, involved in money laundering in Russia. In addition, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is imposing sanctions against Russian citizen Sergey Ivanov, who plays a significant role in money laundering, and against the virtual currency exchange Cryptex, registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
At the same time, it is noted that FinCEN and OFAC sanctions are coordinated with the actions of other US government agencies and international partners.
It is also reported that the US State Department has offered a reward of up to 10 million dollars for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ivanov.
In addition, the US Secret Service and the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in this connection announced formal charges against Ivanov and another Russian, Timur Shakhmametov.
US IT sanctions against Russia
The USA introduced new sanctions against Russia due to the invasion of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, this time they affected the IT sphere. Some companies have withdrawn from the Russian market, while others have introduced significant restrictions.
The American restrictions entered into force on September 12, 2024. According to the new anti-Russian sanctions, the following services will completely stop working in the Russian Federation:
Atlassian;
Notion;
Jira;
SAP;
Autodesk;
Oracle;
Trello;
Miro (restrictions apply to accounts from the Russian Federation and Belarus);
Slack;
CAD.
The new sanctions will also prohibit American companies from providing IT consulting, design, support, and cloud services to any legal entity in the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Google no longer allows registering new accounts from Russian numbers. Also, bloggers from the Russian Federation will not be able to receive income through AdSense.
