Ukrainian ransomware affiliate Artem Stryzhak sentenced to 70 months

A New York federal court handed down the prison term for attacks tied to the Nefilim and Hive ransomware operations A federal court in New York has sentenced Artem Aleksandrovych Stryzhak, a 36-year-old Ukrainian national, to 70 months in prison. The sentence covers his work as an affiliate for two ransomware groups, Nefilim and Hive. The sentencing, handed down on October 27, 2026, closes out a multi-year investigation by the US Department of Justice and the FBI. How the Nefilim and Hive scheme worked Prosecutors believe Stryzhak started working with Nefilim in or around June 2021. At the time, he was living in Barcelona, Spain. His Nefilim stint ran from June to October 2021. During that window, he handed over a 20% share of ransom proceeds to the group’s administrators. Nefilim’s operators pushed affiliates to go after wealthy companies, specifically businesses that could afford to pay large ransom demands. Stryzhak was also described as an early adopter of Hive ransomware, and as a Hive affiliate he targeted at least seven victims. Those victims included healthcare providers and law firms. The research findings state that attacks tied to these operations significantly disrupted...