The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Russian national Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk and his firm Matrix LLC (operating as Operation Zero) for acquiring and selling cyber exploits that threaten U.S. national security. Treasury alleges Operation Zero purchased at least eight proprietary U.S. government cyber tools stolen by former employee Peter Williams and sold them to unauthorized customers while marketing exploits to non‑NATO intelligence agencies and associating with actors linked to Trickbot. #OperationZero #Trickbot
Keypoints
- OFAC designated Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk and Matrix LLC (Operation Zero) for exploit brokerage activities.
- Operation Zero acquired at least eight proprietary cyber tools created for U.S. government use that were stolen from a U.S. company.
- Peter Williams pleaded guilty to stealing the tools and selling them to Operation Zero for cryptocurrency.
- Operation Zero withholds discovered exploits from vendors and targets sales to non‑NATO foreign intelligence customers.
- Sanctions also target a network of associates and companies across Russia, the UAE, and Uzbekistan, including a suspected Trickbot affiliate.