“There’s a pax mafiosa between the Russian regime and its cyber cartels,” is how Tom Kellermann, a Russian cybercrime expert, put it to me as we inched closer to the 2020 election. “Russia’s cybercriminals are treated as a national asset who provide the regime free access to victims of ransomware and financial crime. And in exchange, they get untouchable status. It’s a protection racket and it works both ways.”
