A 40-year-old Russian man faces a lengthy prison sentence in the United States after pleading guilty to his role in spreading and developing the notorious Trickbot malware.
The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Vladimir Dunaev, from the Amur region in Russia’s Far East, is a key member of the criminal Trickbot group, which was indicted for years for its sophisticated information-stealing Trojans that deceived innocent Internet users. notorious.
Information stolen by Trickbot includes victims’ online banking passwords, credit card details, dates of birth, and social security numbers – information that allows fraudsters to hack into victims’ bank accounts and steal funds. In recent years, Trickbot has also been used to infect systems with ransomware.
Trickbot is estimated to have infected millions of computers worldwide, affecting individuals, financial institutions, government agencies, school districts, and utility companies.
Dunayev, who goes by the hacker handle “FFX”, was stranded in South Korea due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was subsequently arrested at a South Korean airport and extradited to the United States in 2021.
“Dunaev and his co-defendants hid behind their keyboards, first created Trickbot and then used it to infect millions of computers around the world, including those used by hospitals, schools and businesses, violating privacy and causing insecurity. estimated damage and financial losses,” said. Rebecca C Lutzko, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our willingness to work globally to bring cybercriminals to justice. We will continue to work closely with domestic and international partners and use every resource at our disposal to stop similar behavior.”
Dunayev is expected to be sentenced in March 2024 and could face up to 35 years in prison.
