FBI stopped a ransomware scheme by tricking a suspect to meet in Los Angeles
U.S. police arrested a Russian man accused of offering an American associate $1 million to infect their employer with malicious software, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, a 27-year-old Russian citizen, was arrested Aug. 22 on a single count of conspiring to intentionally cause harm to a protected computer. According to an FBI complaint, Kriuchkov traveled to northern Nevada to offer $1 million to an acquaintance to help hack the computer system at an unnamed U.S. company. The plan was to install malware on the machines, then demand a ransom in exchange for unlocking the systems. The scheme went sideways, it seems, when FBI agents contacted Kriuchkov, then urged him to drive to Los Angeles, Calif., where he was taken into custody. The Justice Department announcement does not identify Kriuchkov’s alleged conspirators, the name of the intended victim company or strain of malware they allegedly planned to […]
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