Russian-Canadian man living in Simcoe County fights extradition after arrest for global ransomware attacks

Investigators from Orillia, Ontario, to Newark, New Jersey, are trying to convince a judge Mikhail Vasiliev should soon be extradited to the United States after being charged in connection with global ransomware attacks worth millions.

The 33-year-old Russian-Canadian man who has been living in Bradford, Ont., is accused of being a hacker who held sensitive computer data hostage in exchange for ransom payment from victims.

The alleged cyber attacks caught the attention of both the RCMP and FBI.

Provincial police investigators arrested Vasiliev at his Simcoe County home in late October and again on November 9 for his alleged role in the LockBit global ransomware scheme.

According to U.S. justice officials, the LockBit group Vasiliev is accused of being associated with made at least $100 million in ransom demands and took tens of millions of dollars in ransom payments from at least 1,000 cyber attacks on victims in the U.S. and around the world.

The FBI says it believes Vasiliev, who faces a maximum of five years in prison if convicted, was an active LockBit cybercriminal.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Canadian police officers searched Vasiliev's Bradford home in August, where they discovered a file containing a list of alleged prospective or previous cybercrime victims.

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In late October, police raided his home, where investigators allegedly found Vasiliev sitting in his garage at a table with a laptop, which they say he was unable to lock before being arrested.

Investigators said they found several tabs open on the laptop, including one pointing to a site named LockBit LOGIN with a LockBit logo. Investigators also claimed to have found a Bitcoin wallet address in Vasiliev's home, allegedly tracing it back to a ransom payment made six hours earlier.

He is also accused of illegally possessing firearms and ammunition.

The allegations against Vasiliev have not been tested in court.

He is scheduled to appear next week for a bail hearing.