Russian Botnet Operator Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison
upstart writes in with an IRC submission:
Russian Botnet Operator Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison:
Aleksandr Brovko, a Russian national, has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for stealing personally identifiable data and online banking credentials using a botnet, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Federal prosecutors estimate the losses to victims at more than $100 million.
In 2019, Brovko, 36, was extradited to the U.S. following his arrest in the Czech Republic as part of a crackdown on Russian online forums selling sensitive banking data by local law enforcement. In February, Brovko pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud for his alleged role in deploying a botnet with a co-conspirator to harvest personally identifiable information and banking credentials that included customers of Bank of American and Capital One, according to court documents.
"Aleksandr Brovko used his programming skills to facilitate the large-scale theft and use of stolen personal and financial information, resulting in more than $100 million in intended loss," U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia noted in Monday's announcement.
[...] Between 2007 and 2019, Brovko, along with another unnamed conspirator, obtained a botnet from other cybercriminals to harvest sensitive data from banking customers in the U.S., according to the Justice Department.
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