US, UK Officials Announce Charges Against 2 Russian Hackers

Mon, 20 Jan 2020

US, UK Officials Announce Charges Against 2 Russian Hackers

Voice of America
06 Dec 2019, 04:05 GMT+10

WASHINGTON - U.S. and British law enforcement officials announced criminal charges against a notorious Russian hacker on Wednesday, accusing him of a decade-long cybercrime spree that resulted in tens of millions of dollars in losses to victims around the world.

Maksim Yakubets, 32, who used the online moniker "aqua," was charged in connection with two separate international computer hacking and bank fraud schemes from May 2009 to the present.

In the first conspiracy, Yakubets faces charges in London for involvement in a long running conspiracy to employ widespread computer intrusions using the "Zeus" malware and stealing millions of dollars from banks in the United States and elsewhere.

In the seecond scheme, Yakubets along with a second Russian national, Igor Turashev, 37, was charged in the Western district of Pennsylvania with distributing the "Bugat" malware to steal banking credentials and other personal information from infected computers.

Both men remain at large.

The U.S. State Department announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Yakubets.

"These two cases demonstrate our commitment to unmasking the perpetrators behind the world's most egregious cyberattacks," said assistant attorney general Brian A. Benczkowski.

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