Category Archives: Ruslan Stoyanov

Russia Sends Cybersecurity CEO to Jail for 14 Years

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The Russian government today handed down a treason conviction and 14-year prison sentence on Iyla Sachkov, the former founder and CEO of one of Russia’s largest cybersecurity firms. Sachkov, 37, has been detained for nearly two years under charges that the Kremlin has kept classified and hidden from public view, and he joins a growing roster of former Russian cybercrime fighters who are now serving hard time for farcical treason convictions. Continue reading Russia Sends Cybersecurity CEO to Jail for 14 Years→

U.S., U.K. Sanction 7 Men Tied to Trickbot Hacking Group

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Authorities in the United States and United Kingdom today levied financial sanctions against seven men accused of operating “Trickbot,” a cybercrime-as-a-service platform based in Russia that has enabled countless ransomware attacks and bank account takeovers since its debut in 2016. The U.S. Department of the Treasury says the Trickbot group is associated with Russian intelligence services, and that this alliance led to the targeting of many U.S. companies and government entities. Continue reading U.S., U.K. Sanction 7 Men Tied to Trickbot Hacking Group→

Former Russian Cybersecurity Chief Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison

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A Russian court has handed down lengthy prison terms for two men convicted on treason charges for allegedly sharing information about Russian cybercriminals with U.S. law enforcement officials. The men — a former Russian cyber intelligence official and an executive at Russian security firm Kaspersky Lab — were reportedly prosecuted for their part in an investigation into Pavel Vrublevsky, a convicted cybercriminal who ran one of the world’s biggest spam networks and was a major focus of my 2014 book, Spam Nation. Continue reading Former Russian Cybersecurity Chief Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison→

Carding Kingpin Sentenced Again. Yahoo Hacker Pleads Guilty

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Roman Seleznev, a Russian man who is already serving a record 27-year sentence in the United States for cybercrime charges, was handed a 14-year sentence this week by a federal judge in Atlanta for his role in a credit card and identity theft conspiracy that prosecutors say netted more than $50 million. Separately, a Canadian national has pleaded guilty to charges of helping to steal more than a billion user account credentials from Yahoo. Continue reading Carding Kingpin Sentenced Again. Yahoo Hacker Pleads Guilty→

A Shakeup in Russia’s Top Cybercrime Unit

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A chief criticism I heard from readers of my book, Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime, was that it dealt primarily with petty crooks involved in petty crimes, while ignoring more substantive security issues like government surveillance and cyber war. But now it appears that the chief antagonist of Spam Nation is at the dead center of an international scandal involving the hacking of U.S. state electoral boards in Arizona and Illinois, the sacking of Russia’s top cybercrime investigators, and the slow but steady leak of unflattering data on some of Russia’s most powerful politicians. Continue reading A Shakeup in Russia’s Top Cybercrime Unit→

A Shakeup in Russia’s Top Cybercrime Unit

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A chief criticism I heard from readers of my book, Spam Nation: The Inside Story of Organized Cybercrime, was that it dealt primarily with petty crooks involved in petty crimes, while ignoring more substantive security issues like government surveillance and cyber war. But now it appears that the chief antagonist of Spam Nation is at the dead center of an international scandal involving the hacking of U.S. state electoral boards in Arizona and Illinois, the sacking of Russia’s top cybercrime investigators, and the slow but steady leak of unflattering data on some of Russia’s most powerful politicians. Continue reading A Shakeup in Russia’s Top Cybercrime Unit→

Inside the Demise of the Angler Exploit Kit

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Researchers at Kaspersky Lab today confirmed that the cybercriminals behind the Lurk Trojan were also responsible for the development and distribution of the Angler Exploit Kit Continue reading Inside the Demise of the Angler Exploit Kit→