How I verified a recruitment email came from an OFAC-sanctioned hosting provider

Short summary

A developer received a PDF affiliate recruitment email from Aéza, a Russian hosting company. After safely analyzing the harmless PDF, they discovered the sender was OFAC-sanctioned for providing bulletproof hosting to malware and ransomware operators. The story illustrates how the real danger was not the file but the sanctioned entity behind the recruitment pitch.

• •PDF from unknown sender was technically harmless but sender was OFAC-sanctioned
• •Aeza Group designated for hosting infostealer and ransomware infrastructure
• •Demonstrates safe PDF analysis and sanctions vetting workflow

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