U.S. offers $2.5M reward for info on Belarusian cybercriminal behind Angler Exploit Kit

The U.S. Secret Service and the Department of State have declared Belarusian cybercriminal Volodymyr Iuriyovych Kadariya wanted, offering a $2.5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

Kadariya is accused of masterminding the distribution of the Angler Exploit Kit and other malware from October 2013 to March 2022. Through malvertising and other methods, Kadariya and his associates compromised millions of computers worldwide, leading to significant financial losses.

They sold access to compromised devices and stolen information, including banking details and login credentials, on Russian cybercrime forums. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

This reward highlights the U.S. government’s commitment to combating global cybercrime.

About the Angler Exploit Kit

The Angler Exploit Kit, which Kadariya allegedly distributed, was one of the most notorious tools in the cybercrime ecosystem. It exploited vulnerabilities in software to deliver malware to victims’ computers, typically without their knowledge.

Angler was known for its ability to bypass security measures and infect systems via malvertising—ads that, when clicked, would automatically download malicious code. It was highly adaptable, making it a preferred tool for cybercriminals until its operations ceased around mid-2016, though its legacy of destruction lingered in the form of compromised systems and stolen data.