Manager of botnet used in ransomware attacks gets 2 years in prison

A Russian national, Ilya Angelov, was sentenced after admitting he managed the Mario Kart (TA551) phishing botnet that distributed malware via massive spam campaigns and provided access used in BitPaymer ransomware attacks against 72 U.S. companies between 2017–2021, resulting in over $14M in extortion; the group operated large-scale infection and access-for-sale operations and collaborated with other criminal gangs and ransomware affiliates.