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| Prosecutions have been launched in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the United States over a huge international cyber scam, while five Russians charged in the US remain on the run (AFP Photo/Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV) |
The Hague (AFP) - US and European police said Thursday they have smashed a huge international cybercrime network that used Russian malware to steal $100 million (89 million euros) from tens of thousands of victims worldwide.
Prosecutions
have been launched in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the United States over the
scam, while five Russians charged in the US remain on the run, the EU police
agency Europol said.
The
"organised crime network behind $100 million in malware attacks"
targeted "more than 41,000 victims, primarily businesses and their
financial institutions," Europol said.
Police in
Germany and Bulgaria were also involved.
The cyber
gang used GozNym malware to infect victims' computers, steal their online
banking login details and then siphon money from their accounts.
The stolen
money was then laundered in US and other accounts.
Scott
Brady, the US Attorney General for the western district of Pennsylvania where
the US indictment was unsealed, said the operation was an
"unprecedented" international effort.
"Unsuspecting
European and American victims thought they were clicking on a simple invoice,
but were instead giving hackers access to their most sensitive
information," Brady added.
The alleged
leader of the GozNym criminal network, Alexander Konovolov, 35, of Tbilisi, who
goes by the online name "NoNe", was arrested in the former Soviet
state of Georgia, the US Department of Justice said.
His alleged technical assistant Marat Kazandjian, 31, aka "phant0m," was also arrested in Georgia.
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US Attorney
for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott Brady (pictured October 2018)
said the operation was an "unprecedented" international effort (AFP
Photo/ALEX WONG)
|
His alleged technical assistant Marat Kazandjian, 31, aka "phant0m," was also arrested in Georgia.
'Fled to
Russia'
Konovolov
recruited hackers who advertised their services on "Russian-speaking
online criminal forums", and eventually controlled the malware-infected
computers of more than 41,000 victims, Europol said.
The five
Russians charged in the US included the alleged developer of the malware,
identified as Vladimir Gorin, but they cannot be extradited because Russia does
not send suspects abroad.
Gorin
"oversaw its creation, development, management and leasing to other cyber
criminals" including the Georgian alleged leader of the group, Europol
said.
One of the
Russians, Viktor Eremenko, was arrested in Sri Lanka at the request of US
authorities in 2017 but "through the intervention of the Russian
government" was freed on bail, after which he fled to Russia.
Bulgarian
Krasimir Nikolov was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2016 and
has already pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment, the DOJ said.
Ukrainian
police meanwhile arrested Gennady Kapkanov, 36, also known as
"firestarter", on suspicion of hosting a so-called
"Avalanche" network that provided services to more than 200
cybercriminals including the Georgians.
He
allegedly fired an assault rifle through the door of his apartment at police,
the DOJ said.
Europol
announced the smashing of the Avalanche network in a major operation in 2016,
saying that it had infected half a million computers in 188 countries.
The latest
operation was a follow-up from that, Europol said.
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