Romanian man sentenced to 20 years in prison in US for ransomware attacks

Daniel Christian Hulea, a Romanian man accused of contributing to the NetWalker ransomware attacks, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and wire fraud, according to a public announcement from the US Department of Justice.

NetWalker was a Ransomware-as-a-Service operation launched in 2019, which recruited affiliates who were rewarded with 60-75% of all ransom payments, according to Profit.ro.

Hulea was arrested by the Romanian Police in Cluj in July 2023 at the request of American authorities and was extradited to the US. Court documents show that he admitted his involvement in the NetWalker ransomware attacks, which targeted hundreds of victims worldwide, including hospitals, law enforcement agencies, emergency services, companies, municipalities, school districts, colleges, and universities.

The man admitted to obtaining roughly 1,595 bitcoins from his victims, valued at USD 21.5 million at the time of the ransom payments. At the time of writing, however, the same amount of bitcoin is worth USD 153 million.

In addition to his 20-year prison sentence, Hulea was ordered to repay nearly USD 15 million and forfeit all the funds he had obtained through the attacks.

(Photo source: One Photo | Dreamstime.com)