[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-us-sanctions-first-vpn-admin-for-ransomware-aid":10,"sections":34},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":29,"feedback":33,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":33,"total_tokens":33},4714,"us-sanctions-first-vpn-admin-for-ransomware-aid","US Sanctions First VPN Admin for Ransomware Aid","Treasury's OFAC designated Ukrainian operator Dmytro Rashevskyi and a Belarusian cryptor seller, targeting the supply chain behind ransomware attacks.","The US Treasury has sanctioned the administrator of First VPN, a free service long used by ransomware gangs to hit American hospitals and municipalities.\n\nOn July 13, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated First VPN Service (also known as 1VPNS) and its Ukrainian administrator, Dmytro Rashevskyi. The service has run since 2014, marketing itself on dark web forums with promises of zero logs and no cooperation with law enforcement. Rashevskyi allegedly used false identities to purchase infrastructure from providers who would otherwise have refused him. In the same action, Treasury sanctioned Belarusian national Yegeniy Vladimirovich Silayev for selling cryptors — tools that disguise ransomware as harmless files to evade detection.\n\nThe sanctions follow a May 2026 seizure of First VPN's servers by European agencies and the FBI, and were coordinated with the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. By going after service providers and tool sellers rather than just ransomware operators themselves, Treasury is trying to collapse the support infrastructure that lets multiple gangs operate simultaneously — a supply-chain approach that can, in theory, disrupt more attacks per enforcement action than chasing individual hackers.\n\nWhether freezing assets and blocking US transactions actually deters operators based in Ukraine and Belarus — countries with limited extradition cooperation — remains the question these sanctions never quite answer.","[\"security\",\"ransomware\",\"sanctions\",\"vpn\"]","2026-07-15T09:39:52.000Z","2026-07-15T09:51:26.138Z","2026-07-15T09:51:28.948Z","published",null,[],"security",[24,26,27,28],"ransomware","sanctions","vpn",[30],{"name":31,"url":32},"TechRadar","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.techradar.com\u002Fvpn\u002Fvpn-privacy-security\u002Ffirst-vpn-administrators-sanctioned-by-us-treasury-over-ransomware-attacks",0,{"sections":35},[36,41,44,49,54,59,64,69,74,79,84,89,94,99],{"name":37,"slug":38,"count":39,"latest_published_at":40},"AI","ai",2599,"2026-07-17T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":42,"slug":24,"count":43,"latest_published_at":40},"Security",305,{"name":45,"slug":46,"count":47,"latest_published_at":48},"Deals","deals",179,"2026-06-29T20:02:07.000Z",{"name":50,"slug":51,"count":52,"latest_published_at":53},"Policy","policy",165,"2026-07-16T22:02:31.000Z",{"name":55,"slug":56,"count":57,"latest_published_at":58},"Hardware","hardware",126,"2026-07-16T20:09:48.000Z",{"name":60,"slug":61,"count":62,"latest_published_at":63},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",94,"2026-07-16T16:29:46.000Z",{"name":65,"slug":66,"count":67,"latest_published_at":68},"Software","software",71,"2026-07-16T15:33:28.000Z",{"name":70,"slug":71,"count":72,"latest_published_at":73},"Science","science",66,"2026-07-10T10:29:37.000Z",{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":78},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",60,"2026-07-16T16:59:13.000Z",{"name":80,"slug":81,"count":82,"latest_published_at":83},"Startups","startups",42,"2026-07-16T16:30:35.000Z",{"name":85,"slug":86,"count":87,"latest_published_at":88},"Gaming","gaming",41,"2026-07-09T04:00:00.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"General","general",29,"2026-07-10T22:28:58.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"Reviews","reviews",20,"2026-06-24T12:00:01.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]