Maxim Alexandrovich Rudometov & RedLine

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Rewards for Justice is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, while acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, participates in malicious cyber activities against U.S. critical infrastructure in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

Maxim Alexandrovich Rudometov (Максим Александрович Рудомётов), born in 1999 in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, developed and has sold “information stealer” malware known as RedLine.   

Infostealers are used to steal sensitive information from victim’s computers including usernames and passwords, financial information, system information, cookies, and cryptocurrency accounts. The stolen information — referred to as “logs” — is then sold on cybercrime forums and used for conduct fraudulent activity and other hacks. RedLine malware has been used by a wide-range of malicious cyber actors to conduct intrusions against major corporations and critical infrastructure around the world, including targets in the United States. Malicious cyber actors have used RedLine to infect millions of computers worldwide, making it one of the top malware variants in the world.

RedLine is sold through a decentralized Malware as a Service (“MaaS”) model in which affiliates purchase a license to use the malware and then launch their own campaigns to infect computers of their intended victims. The malware is advertised for sale on cybercrime forums and through Telegram channels that offer customer support and software updates.

Rudometov has regularly accessed and managed the technical infrastructure of RedLine , is associated with various cryptocurrency accounts used to receive and launder payments, and is in possession of RedLine malware.  He has used online monikers “dendimirror”, “alinchok”, “ghackihg”, “makc1901”, “navi_ghacking”, and “bloodzz.fenix” among others. In February 2022, Rudometov fled to Krasnodar, Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Anyone with information on foreign government linked associates of Rudometov, or their malicious cyber activities, or foreign government-linked use of RedLine malware, should contact Rewards for Justice via the Tor-based tips-reporting channel at: he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion (Tor browser required).