Category Archives: Arkady Bukh

Russian Cybersecurity Executive Arrested for Alleged Role in 2012 Megahacks

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Nikita Kislitsin, formerly the head of network security for one of Russia’s top cybersecurity firms, was arrested last week in Kazakhstan in response to 10-year-old hacking charges from the U.S. Department of Justice. Experts say Kislitsin’s prosecution could soon put the Kazakhstan government in a sticky diplomatic position, as the Kremlin is already signaling that it intends to block his extradition to the United States. Continue reading Russian Cybersecurity Executive Arrested for Alleged Role in 2012 Megahacks→

LinkedIn hacker Nikulin sentenced to 7 years in prison after years of legal battles

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One of the most-watched cybercrime cases in recent memory has come to a close. A U.S. judge on Tuesday sentenced Yevgeniy Nikulin to 88 months in prison, or more than seven years, in prison, capping an international legal drama that’s involved three countries over a span of eight years. Prosecutors had requested nearly 12 years in prison. A jury in California found Nikulin, now 33, guilty in July of hacking LinkedIn and Formspring in a pair of 2012 data breaches in which he stole credentials belonging to 117 million Americans. He was charged in 2016 with felony counts including computer intrusion and aggravated identity theft for stealing Americans’ usernames and passwords, then trying to sell them to other members of a Russian-speaking cybercriminal forum. “This is a hard one because when he returns [to Russia] I think he will return to being a hacker again,” Judge William Alsup said during. […]

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Russian Cybercrime Boss Burkov Gets 9 Years

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A well-connected Russian hacker once described as “an asset of supreme importance” to Moscow was sentenced on Friday to nine years in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty to running a site that sold stolen payment card data, and to administering a highly secretive crime forum that counted among its members some of the most elite Russian cybercrooks. Continue reading Russian Cybercrime Boss Burkov Gets 9 Years→

Lawyer for alleged LinkedIn hacker wants out, says client is ‘not sane’

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The attorney for Yevgeniy Nikulin has had enough. Defense counsel Arkady Bukh has asked Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California to allow him to withdraw as the lawyer for the Russian man accused of stealing more than 100 million usernames and passwords from LinkedIn, Dropbox, and other sites. The court filing in San Francisco on Tuesday marks the end of a chapter in Nikulin’s long and strange story. The alleged scammer arrived in the U.S. more than a year ago after he was arrested in Prague on charges related to stealing some 117 million usernames and passwords. Nikulin since then has refused to cooperate in his defense, and underwent a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation in which he ultimately was determined fit to stand trial. The defense team, led by Bukh, had embarked on novel legal strategy in which it would have asked the court to extradite Nikulin back […]

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Lawyers for alleged LinkedIn hacker appear ready to fight results of psychiatric evaluation

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The ongoing court case tied to an accused Russian hacker took another turn last week when the results of his psychiatric evaluation became a topic of contention. Now court deliberations in the case of Yevgeniy Nikulin, an alleged hacker accused of breaching LinkedIn, are scheduled to continue after a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation sought to determine whether he was fit to stand trial. Nikulin, a Russian national, is set to be tried in U.S. court for allegedly hacking into LinkedIn and other websites in 2012, when prosecutors say some 117 million usernames and passwords were stolen. Nikulin has not communicated about the case with the attorneys representing him, a defense lawyer told CyberScoop, since meeting with Russian consulate officials shortly after his arrival in the U.S. in March 2018. Judge William Alsup ordered Nikulin to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, as CyberScoop reported in November. The results of that evaluation now are in and, […]

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Russian hacker accused of creating NeverQuest malware pleads guilty

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Stanislav Lisov, a Russian hacker accused of creating banking malware used to steal $885,000, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York Friday. Lisov created the NeverQuest banking malware that was used against hundreds of financial institutions. It once was the third-most popular malware online, according to Russian security vendor Kaspersky Lab. Lisov was facing 35 years in prison when he was extradited to the U.S. from Spain after being apprehended in Barcelona in 2017. Lisov faces a maximum of five years in prison under the terms of his plea deal, according to his lawyer. “My client spent over a year in jail in Barcelona, Spain while in extradition,” lawyer Arkady Bukh said in a statement. “[It] then took over a year here in the United States to negotiate this plea.” Lisov was one of a number of […]

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Alleged LinkedIn hacker to undergo psychiatric evaluation, trial pushed to February

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The U.S. trial of the Russian hacker accused of stealing data from LinkedIn and Dropbox has been postponed until the defendant undergoes a court-mandated psychiatric evaluation. Yevgeniy Nikulin is scheduled to be transferred from the San Francisco Bay area this week to a psychiatric facility, where a doctor will determine whether he is fit to stand trial, according to Nikulin’s New York-based attorney Arkady Bukh. The delay complicates a high-profile federal case that is one of several involving extradited hackers tied to well-known large data breaches. Nikulin was arrested in October 2016 on charges related to hacking into LinkedIn and Dropbox in 2012, when he allegedly accessed a database containing some 117 million account passwords. The trial was originally scheduled to begin on Jan. 28, 2019. A court hearing to determine Nikulin’s competency now is scheduled for Feb. 12. Judge William Alsup of the U.S. Northern District of California in […]

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Suspected Russian cybercriminal arrested in Bulgaria at U.S. request, lawyer says

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Bulgarian authorities last week arrested an accused Russian cybercriminal based on an Interpol warrant that originated with prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York, a lawyer familiar with the case told CyberScoop. Alexander Zhukov, a Russian national, was apprehended by police after he was indicted in absentia by U.S. prosecutors, according to Arkady Bukh, a New York-based attorney with a history of representing suspected hackers from Eastern Europe. Bukh now is in negotiations to represent Zhukov, he said Wednesday. Prosecutors accused Zhukov of affiliate fraud, Bukh said. Affiliate fraud typically involves artificially inflating internet traffic to defraud marketers, charging advertisers for access to website visitors who don’t exist. “There is widespread fraud from huge amounts of traffic getting directed through botnets,” said Bukh, describing the rise of ad fraud in general. “Before, it was boys and girls in Russia sitting in boiler rooms clicking manual clicks in order to get […]

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DOJ arrests three Ukrainians allegedly tied to FIN7 hacking gang

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Three Ukrainians accused of hacking vast quantities of financial data from U.S. businesses have been indicted, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. The individuals arrested are Dmytro Fedorov, 44, Fedir Hladyr, 33, and Andrii Kopakov, 30. The trio are allegedly part of a hacking group called “FIN7” by the government, but more widely known as Carbanak, a group that allegedly stole billions from worldwide banks and tens of millions of dollars from U.S. companies since the group’s inception in 2014. Carbanak boasts dozens of members and a complex organization which, prosecutors say, the three arrested men helped manage and control. “The three Ukrainian nationals indicted today allegedly were part of a prolific hacking group that targeted American companies and citizens by stealing valuable consumer data, including personal credit card information, that they then sold on the Darknet,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski. The three men are charged with 26 felony counts alleging […]

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LinkedIn hacking suspect refuses to cooperate with his lawyers

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Yevgeniy Nikulin, the Russian hacker accused of stealing data from three United States-based tech firms, is uncooperative in his own defense, one of his lawyers said Tuesday. Nikulin, 30, is accused of hacking into LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring and siphoning data tied to over 100 million individuals. He was arrested in October 2016 and, following a lengthy geopolitical battle, was extradited from the Czech Republic to the U.S. in March. He pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Nikulin is refusing to speak substantively about his own criminal defense, detainment or mental health, according to Valery Nechay, a lawyer on his defense team. He was placed in solitary confinement after an alleged escape attempt and multiple physical confrontations with U.S. Marshals. He is currently on suicide watch largely due to his non-cooperation, his lawyer explained. The defense is actively exploring a full psychiatric examination. Nechay said she can’t tell if Nikulin’s refusal to cooperate is a […]

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