Recent Western government revelations about EvilCorp flesh out how Russian ransomware actors and the Russian government use each other to navigate a world they perceive as dangerous.

Note added April 30 2025:

Originally posted October 16, 2024 in a very different global geopolitical context, this analysis remains relevant today. Subsequent revelations, especially a set of leaked messages from the Black Basta group – a successor to the Conti group – reaffirm the complexity of relations between Russian ransomware actors and security officials. (The Natto Team discussed the value of leaks here). The Black Basta leaks show that group's members as:

 Receiving Protection: Black Basta chief “Tramp” – who chose as his moniker the Russian version of the current US president’s name – boasted of receiving high-level help from Russian authorities after Armenian officials arrested him in June 2024.   

But Still Vulnerable: Tramp speculated in July 2024 that someone from their circle had snitched on him, “tempted” by the rewards the US State Department has offered for information on Tramp. He also received tipoffs from criminal acquaintances and from “my law enforcement people,” telling him that Russian officials faced international pressure to crack down on Russian cybercriminals: “those who get paid by Interpol here will start making our lives hell.” In September 2024, Black Basta coder “YY” told Tramp that Russian officials had raided YY's home, impounded his car, and “marinated” him in custody for a time. 

 Under Pressure to Work for the Russian State: ​​In a November 14 2022 chat, “Tramp” said, “I have guys in Lubyanka [FSB headquarters] and the GRU [military intelligence agency] – I have been “feeding” them for a long time. They only want to take people on to work for them. They won’t even talk about [prison] sentences or anything. You can go in to work every day at 8 am and leave at 6 pm, just like in a ‘white’ [legitimate] job.” 

 Tracking Geopolitics: In May 2024, after Black Basta paralyzed IT systems at US-based Ascension Healthcare, Black Basta ransom negotiator “Tinker” pondered the group's extortion strategy in light of US election-year politics. He mused that, if anyone died as a result of the group’s attack on a healthcare entity – particularly a Christian hospital system like Ascension – US citizens would demand that their government do whatever it took to induce Russia to crack down on the criminals. Tinker speculated that the Joe Biden administration might make serious concessions to Russia, such as reducing military aid to Ukraine, in return for Russia’s cracking down on the criminals. 

For the Natto Team’s own assessment of Russian-US “ransomware diplomacy,” see here and here.

It will be interesting to observe how Russian cybercriminals interpret recent developments in US-Russian relations.

Dmitry Medvedev’s June 13 call to do “maximum harm” to Western infrastructure is not so new: Russian strategists have thought about using ransomware to pressure adversary countries since at least 2016