Ukrainian man pleads guilty in cyberattack that temporarily disrupted major Vermont hospital

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Justice says a Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to involvement in two separate malware schemes, including a cyberattack that temporarily shut down some vital services at a major hospital in Vermont. Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Nebraska to conspiracy to commit racketeering and wire fraud. He allegedly participated in a ransomware attack on the University of Vermont Medical Center in 2020. Federal prosecutors say the attack stopped the hospital from providing many critical patient services for over two weeks and cost it $30 million in losses. A hospital official said the amount was was even higher. Records of the case are sealed to the public, so the name of Penchukov’s lawyer was not immediately known Friday.