US sanctions zero-day exploit brokers linked to Russian intelligence

The U.S. government announced sanctions on Tuesday against two companies and their founders that acquire and resell zero-day exploits. These vulnerabilities, unknown to software developers, can be abused for hacking and pose a threat to national security, foreign policy, and the economy, as reported by TechCrunch.

The sanctioned entities include Russia-based Operation Zero, which offered up to $20 million for zero-days in Android and iPhones, and its founder, Sergey Zelenyuk. The Treasury Department stated Operation Zero acquired and sold proprietary U.S. government cyber tools to unauthorized users. The sanctions also target Zelenyuk's assistant, Marina Evgenyevna Vasanovich, and associates Azizjon Makhmudovich Mamashoyev and Oleg Vyacheslavovich Kucherov. Kucherov is suspected of ties to the Trickbot ransomware gang.

Mamashoyev is allegedly the founder of Advance Security Solutions, another UAE-based zero-day broker also sanctioned, which had offered up to $20 million for exploits targeting smartphones. These actions coincide with an FBI investigation into Peter Williams, a former L3Harris employee who pleaded guilty to selling exploits to a Russian broker, now identified as Operation Zero.

Source: TechCrunch