"By day he worked for the Canadian government as an IT specialist.
By night, he worked as a drug trafficker and becomes a federal government employee hacker, extorting companies and others around the world as a part of a criminal ransomware gang, amassing millions of dollars in bitcoin by threatening to expose the private digital information of victims who didn't pay up.”
For those who don’t know Gatineau, its a rather sleepy community in Quebec, so near the capital of Canada, Ottawa, that many federal civil servants live there because it’s lovely, nestled in nature, and much cheaper than Ottawa. Who would have thought that an international criminal in ransomware - masquerading as a 33-year-old simple bureaucrat - lived there? He has an addiction to making money and is very dangerous.
What is ransomware? It’s a form of malicious software that blocks access to a computer or computers until a ransom payment is made. The ransomware criminals hold sensitive information on the locked computer and threaten to release the information publicly if the payment is not made. How much? Millions of dollars. In bitcoin that can’t be traced.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Fifth Estate, it’s an amazing CBC investigative journalism program. Here is the link: https://gem.cbc.ca/media/the-fifth-estate/s48e07
My summary:
The hacker, User ID 128, has a name: Vachon-Desjardins. He doesn’t live big, he lives in a small home in a sleepy community. He just wants more money. And then, even more.
He attacked universities and health institutions during COVID-19, their most vulnerable time, to extort millions. He threatened them with losing their valuable data and releasing personal information on patients. Why? For money. “He told me … he was having an addiction to money. He always wanted more and more and more. He [didn’t] know where to stop,”
Vachon was charged in Canada and, after the FBI got involved via the ransomware attacks in the United States, he was extradited and charged there too. “I think that a lot of individuals who commit these crimes don’t think that they’ll ever stand trial in the United States. I think that the 20-year sentence was a very good deterrence piece to prevent others who might consider committing this type of conduct, that maybe they should think twice.”
Vachon-Desjardins remains in Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Fla., as he awaits his next hearing set for January, when restitution for his victims will be decided. He will then be assigned to a federal prison.”
Does crime pay for those who need more and more money? At first, it sure looked like it, “When police raided Vachon-Desjardins’ Gatineau home and arrested him on Jan. 27, 2021, they seized $742,840 and 719 Bitcoin, valued at approximately $21,849,087 at the time and $14,463,993 as of today.”
Today, he’s in a federal prison in the United States, serving a 20 year sentence.
What happens in a small home, in a sleepy community like Gatineau Canada? A lot apparently. And what happens in Gatineau never stays in Gatineau. It isn’t Las Vegas. Thank goodness.
Threatening institutions in Canada and the United States during COVID-19 should have a price — 20 years seems hardly enough.
Thanks for an update on a thoroughly modern crime
ReplyDeleteI agree - 20 years isn't enough. Meanwhile, people who don't live in small sleepy towns often are in denial about what happens in small sleepy towns. Somehow they think small town residents are "nicer", "purer" - to which I say, read "To Kill a Mockingbird."
ReplyDeleteInteresting piece. I hope authorities catch more of these hacker/scammers and put them away.
ReplyDeleteI believe I saw a clip that featured Mr V-D (there's an unfortunate pair of initials). If I have the right person in mind, they showed his house, what we would call a portable.
ReplyDeleteTo me, ransomware is perhaps the worst of computer crimes. Here in the US, ransom-crackers have target power companies, government offices, federal departments, and the Colonial pipeline.
But they also attack little guys. Many of us keep our entire business world on our computer. Imagine losing your entire work-product because someone virtually steals your computer. That is evil.