“The entities designated today ... jeopardize the safety and security of the United States and our allies,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images U.S. sanctions Russian businesses, executives over cyberattacks

The Treasury Department on Monday added five Russian companies and three Russian individuals to its sanctions list for supporting Moscow’s global campaign of cyberattacks.

The sanctioned firms provided “material and technological support” to the FSB, Russia’s main security agency, according to the department.


The move freezes any assets the businesses and executives have in the U.S. and bans Americans from doing business with any of them.

“The entities designated today have directly contributed to improving Russia’s cyber and underwater capabilities through their work with the FSB and therefore jeopardize the safety and security of the United States and our allies,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

The targeted firms include Digital Security, the Kvant Scientific Research Institute and Divetechnoservices. Two others, ERPScan and Embedi, are “owned or controlled” by Digital Security.

As examples of Russia’s malicious cyber activity, Treasury cited Moscow’s digital attacks on the U.S. energy grid, its malware designed to infect routers around the world and its release of the NotPetya malware that crippled many Ukrainian businesses last year.

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The three newly sanctioned Russian men are employees of Divetechnoservices. Vladimir Yakovlevich Kaganskiy owned the company as of December, while the other two — Oleg Sergeyevich Chirikov and Aleksandr Lvovich Tribun — served in senior leadership roles.

In addition to aiding the FSB, one firm, Kvant, is also “owned or controlled” by the Russian agency, according to the Treasury Department.

Mnuchin said the Trump administration is “committed to aggressively targeting any entity or individual working at the direction of the FSB whose work threatens the United States and will continue to utilize our sanctions authorities … to counter the constantly evolving threats emanating from Russia.”

