Category Archives: Yevgeniy Nikulin

Accused LinkedIn hacker worked with alleged SEC hacker, according to DOJ filing

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Hackers accused of carrying out separate attacks on social network LinkedIn and public relations firms for financial gain worked together as part of a “a criminal clique” in which scammers from Ukraine and Russia pooled their resources, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Yevgeniy Nikulin, a Russian man who allegedly stole 117 million usernames and passwords from LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring in 2012, was in regular contact with Oleksandr Ieremenko, a Ukrainian national charged in New Jersey for allegedly hacking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, prosecutors say in a new court filing. Nikulin is set to stand trial in San Francisco for allegedly stealing credentials from LinkedIn and Formspring, then trying to sell that database on a Russian-language internet forum. Ieremenko was previously charged, along with six other individuals, in connection with a scheme to steal nonpublic information from the SEC and PR firms for the purpose of illegal […]

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Aleksei Burkov, Russian accused of operating ‘elite’ hacking forum, pleads not guilty

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The accused Russian scammer at center of a geopolitical standoff pleaded not guilty Friday to allegations that he operated two hacking forums where members bought and sold payment data worth roughly $20 million. Aleksei Burkov appeared in the Eastern District Court of Virginia to refute charges including computer intrusion, identity theft and other fraud-related accusations. The 29-year-old St. Petersburg native arrived in the U.S. on Nov. 12 from Israel after a prolonged extradition battle in which the Russian government tried coercing Israeli officials into sending Burkov to Russia, rather than the U.S. Burkov appeared relaxed to the point of laughing at a joke Judge Thomas Ellis made about his own penchant for eating ice cream in the former Soviet Union. The defendant wore a dark green jumpsuit and had short hair. Defense attorney Gregory Stambaugh said Burkov has been in good spirits, a mood the attorney described as “amazing” under the circumstances. […]

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Alleged Russian hacker at center of international dispute poised for extradition to U.S.

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An accused Russian cybercriminal arrested in Israel four years ago is scheduled to be extradited to the U.S. despite ongoing efforts by the Kremlin to bring him home. Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana signed an order on Wednesday to send Aleksey Burkov, 29, to the U.S. to face hacking-related charges in a Virginia court, Haaretz first reported. Prosecutors have reportedly charged Burkov, a St. Petersburg native, with running a website where thieves could buy and sell stolen credit card information, along with identity theft and money laundering, per Haaretz. As the extradition request moved forward, Russian authorities arrested an Israeli woman, Naama Issachar, for allegedly carrying marijuana in a Moscow airport earlier this year. Russian state media suggested in October the Kremlin would swap Issachar in exchange for Burkov. A Russian court ultimately sentenced the 26-year-old woman to more than seven years in prison, a punishment her family described as […]

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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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Alleged LinkedIn hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin will stand trial in U.S. court, despite mental illness symptoms

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Yevgeniy Nikulin is headed back to court. The Russian accused of hacking a number of sites, including LinkedIn and Dropbox, was ruled fit to stand trial in a May 29 decision by U.S. District Judge William Alsup. Nikulin previously was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation for refusing to communicate with his attorneys about his case, despite an ability to communicate about other topics without difficulty. Government attorneys previously argued “there is no comparison to the present case, where the defendant has stated that he has no complaint regarding his representation, but chooses not to discuss the proceedings with his counsel.” The defense has argued that Nikulin suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder related to his brother’s suicide and an abusive father, and that he has exhibited irrational behavior. Now, Alsup has ruled that the case against Nikulin will move forward. In his decision, the judge said Nikulin’s refusal to participate […]

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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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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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Research: Prolific cybercriminal tessa88 is Russian national

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The identity of a notorious figure in the hacker underworld has possibly come to light, due to new research from threat intelligence firm Recorded Future. In a blog post published Tuesday, the company’s Insikt Group points to evidence that unmasks “tessa88,” a prolific data broker who sold access to information stolen in high-profile breaches. The company claims that tessa88 is tied to Russian national Maksim Donakov. Operating from February to May 2016, mostly on the dark web, tessa88 sold access to stolen databases, including LinkedIn, VKontakte, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, according to the research. Andrei Barysevich, Recorded Future’s director of advanced collection, told CyberScoop that while tessa88 was a was a constant on many dark web forums, the holder of that alias was purely a broker and there is no reason to believe that person carried out the hacks. “He was the seller of the data,” Barysevich told CyberScoop. “We did not find any evidence that […]

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U.S. warns countries not to ‘manipulate the extradition process’ for cybercriminals

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The Department of Justice’s second-in-command has called on other countries to step up their efforts to extradite accused cybercriminals, warning that the U.S. will “expose” countries that “manipulate the extradition process.” “We will identify nations that routinely block the fair administration of justice and fail to act in good faith,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told a general assembly of Interpol, an international police organization, on Sunday. “In some instances, nations shield their citizens from the rule of law with schemes that waste resources, cause needless delay, thwart investigative efforts, and undermine justice,” Rosenstein said in his prepared remarks. The U.S. processes extraditions “without regard to the nationality of the offender, but that cooperation must be reciprocated,” Rosenstein said. Rosenstein cited the case of Aleksey Belan, a Russian national charged with helping compromise 500 million Yahoo email accounts in 2014. In 2012, Belan was charged in a separate hack of […]

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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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