PANews reported on February 26 that the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), pursuant to the Protection of U.S. Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA) and related executive orders, has added a Russian vulnerability brokerage network and its associated individuals and entities to its sanctions list. The 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 through cryptocurrency, tools intended only for use by the U.S. government and its allies. Australian citizen Peter Williams has pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets and selling these tools to Operation Zero between 2022 and 2025, receiving millions of dollars in cryptocurrency in return.

The assets of the sanctioned party in the United States will be frozen, and U.S. individuals will generally be prohibited from engaging in transactions with them. Violations will result in civil or criminal penalties.