Treasury sanctions Russian firm said to have stolen and sold US cyber tools

The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Russian firm Operation Zero, its leader Sergey Zelenyuk, and affiliated individuals and companies for allegedly buying eight proprietary U.S.-built cyber exploits stolen from a defense contractor and reselling them for millions in cryptocurrency; the actions parallel an FBI investigation and a guilty plea by a former contractor employee who admitted selling the exploits to a Russian broker. The report highlights risks that stolen, ready-made hacking tools can be quickly used against government networks, defense contractors, and critical infrastructure, and notes links to known ransomware actors.