U.S. Treasury Uses PAIPA for the First Time to Sanction Zero-Day Vulnerability Broker Network

PANews reported on February 26 that the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), under the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA) and related executive orders, has added the Russian vulnerability brokerage network and its associated individuals and entities to the sanctions list. This network, operated by Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk and his company Matrix LLC (Operation Zero), is accused of acquiring and reselling at least eight proprietary cyberattack tools—stolen from a U.S. company and intended solely for use by the U.S. government and its allies—using cryptocurrency. Australian national Peter Williams has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets between 2022 and 2025, selling the aforementioned tools to Operation Zero, and receiving millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

The sanctioned parties' assets in the U.S. will be frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from transacting with them. Violations may result in civil or criminal penalties.