Quebec ‘cyberterrorist’ pleads guilty in Brampton to ransomware attacks

The Quebec man guilty of sophistictaed ransomware attacks in Canada and around the world has been sentanced in Brampton to seven years in prison.

According to court documents, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins of Gatineau victimized 17 Canadian entities and others throughout the world by breaching private computer networks and systems between May 2020 and January 2021.

Part of a Vachon-Desjardin hi-jacked their data, holding the stolen data for ransom and distributing stolen data when ransoms were not paid.

Last week, Vachon-Desjardin pled guilty in a Brampton court for his part in the cyberattacks which were reportedly or a group of cybercriminals known as NetWalker.

Brampton judge G. Paul Renwick called Vachon-Desjardin “a sophisticated cyberterrorist who preyed in an organized way with others on entities in educational, health-care, governmental, and commercial sectors.”

The Quebec man guilty of sophisticated ransomware attacks in Canada and around the world has been sentenced in Brampton to seven years in prison.

According to court documents, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins of Gatineau victimised 17 Canadian entities and others throughout the world by breaching private computer networks and systems between May 2020 and January 2021.

Part of a Vachon-Desjardin hi-jacked their data, holding the stolen data for ransom and distributing stolen data when ransoms were not paid.

Brampton judge G. Paul Renwick called Vachon-Desjardin “a sophisticated cyberterrorist who preyed in an organised way with others on entities in educational, health-care, governmental, and commercial sectors.”

Last week, Vachon-Desjardin pled guilty in a Brampton court for his part in the cyberattacks by a group of cybercriminals known as NetWalker.

Vachon-Desjardin and NetWalker made headlines last year when he was charged in the U.S., with authorities allegeding Vachon-Desjardin illegally obtained more than $27.6 million in ransomware attacks.

Vachon-Desjardin was arresed last January, confessing to police in November 2021.

According to court documents, Vachon-Desjardin admitted to investigators that over 1,200 Bitcoins related to his NetWalker malware activities passed through his e-wallet and were shared with his co-conspirators and the developer of the NetWalker ransomware.

Vachon-Desjardin said his entire ransomware activities involved over 2000 Bitcoins, and the RCMP seized slightly less than 720 Bitcoins from his e-wallets and accounts. He had more than $1 million in liquid assets in January 2021.

When investigators searched his home and bank accounts they seized cryptocurrency and devices with some 20 terabytes of data.

The judge said that the data seized from Vachon-Desjardin “would fill an entire hockey arena” if printed off.

Vachon-Desjardin was previously sentenced to more than three years imprisonment in 2015 for drug trafficking and had outstanding unrelated charges in Quebec.

The judge said his sentence can begin while awaiting resolution of his charges in the U.S. “and concurrent to any sentence of imprisonment he receives there.”

The parties also agreed that the sentence can run concurrently to the 54 months of imprisonment recently ordered for Vachon-Desjardin’s drug trafficking offences in Quebec.

NetWalker made headlines last year when Vachon-Desjardin was charged in the U.S., with authorities allegeding he illegally obtained more than $27.6 million.

Vachon-Desjardin was arresed last January, confessing to police in November 2021.

According to court documents, Vachon-Desjardin admitted to investigators that over 1,200 Bitcoins related to his NetWalker malware activities passed through his e-wallet and were shared with his co-conspirators and the developer of the NetWalker ransomware.

Vachon-Desjardin said his entire ransomware activities involved over 2000 Bitcoins, and the RCMP seized slightly less than 720 Bitcoins from his e-wallets and accounts. He had more than $1 million in liquid assets in January 2021.

When investigators searched his home and bank accounts they seized cryptocurrency and devices with some 20 terabytes of data.

The judge said that the data seized from Vachon-Desjardin “would fill an entire hockey arena” if printed off.

Vachon-Desjardin was previously sentenced to more than three years imprisonment in 2015 for drug trafficking and had outstanding unrelated charges in Quebec.

The judge said his sentence can begin while awaiting resolution of his charges in the U.S. “and concurrent to any sentence of imprisonment he receives there.”

The parties also agreed that the sentence can run concurrently to the 54 months of imprisonment recently ordered for Vachon-Desjardin’s drug trafficking offences in Quebec.