• US sanctions Russian broker for buying stolen zero-day exploits February 25, 2026 05:31 AM 0 The U.S. • Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian exploit broker who bought stolen hacking tools from a former executive of a U.S. • The Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)designated Matrix LLC(doing business as Operation Zero and headquartered in St. • Petersburg, Russia) on Tuesday, along with its owner, Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk, and five associated individuals and companies. • OFAC sanctioned the targets under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), a law specifically targeting intellectual property theft by foreign adversaries, the first time that law has been used since its enactment. • The designations also coincidewith the sentencing of Peter Williams, a 39-year-old Australian national and former general manager of Trenchant, a cybersecurity unit of U.S.

Article Summaries:

  • The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned a Russian exploit broker who bought stolen hacking tools from a former executive of a U.S. defense contractor. The Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Matrix LLC (doing business as Operation Zero and headquartered in St. Petersburg, Russia) on Tuesday, along with its owner, Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk, and five associated individuals and companies. OFAC sanctioned the targets under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA), a law specifically targeting intellectual property theft by foreign adversaries, the

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