Ukrainian Man Pleads Guilty in Cyberattack That Crippled Major US Hospital

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A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to involvement in two separate malware schemes including a cyberattack at the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2020 that temporarily shut down some of its vital services and cost it tens of millions of dollars, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, also known as Vyacheslav Igoravich Andreev, 37, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Nebraska to one count of conspiracy to break U.S. anti-racketeering law and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Records in the case are sealed, so the name of Penchukov’s lawyer was not immediately known.

Penchukov was accused of helping lead a racketeering enterprise and conspiracy that infected thousands of business computers with malicious software starting in May 2009, and later leading a conspiracy that infected computers with new malware from at least November 2018 through February 2021, according to federal prosecutors.

That allowed other suspicious software, like ransonware, to access infected computers, which is what happened at the University of Vermont Medical Center in October 2020, the Justice Department said.

A hospital official said in 2021 that the attack cost it an estimated $50 million, mostly in lost revenue, while the Department of Justice pegged the losses at $30 million.

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