The Backstory Behind Carder Kingpin Roman Seleznev’s Record 27 Year Prison Sentence

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2017 16:37:23 +0000

Roman Seleznev, a 32-year-old Russian cybercriminal and prolific credit card thief, was sentenced Friday to 27 years in federal prison. That is a record punishment for hacking violations in the United States and by all accounts one designed to send a message to criminal hackers everywhere. But a close review of the case suggests that Seleznev’s record sentence was severe in large part because the evidence against him was substantial and yet he declined to cooperate with prosecutors prior to his trial. The son of an influential Russian politician, Seleznev made international headlines in 2014 after he was captured while vacationing in The Maldives, a popular vacation spot for Russians and one that many Russian cybercriminals previously considered to be out of reach for western law enforcement agencies. He was whisked away to Guam briefly before being transported to Washington state to stand trial for computer hacking charges.

Read more

Alleged Spam King Pyotr Levashov Arrested

Credit to Author: BrianKrebs| Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2017 04:17:09 +0000

Authorities in Spain have arrested a Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins. Spanish police arrested Pyotr Levashov under an international warrant executed in the city of Barcelona, according to Reuters. Russian state-run television station RT (formerly Russia Today) reported that Levashov was arrested while vacationing in Spain with his family. According to numerous stories here at KrebsOnSecurity, Levashov was better known as “Severa,” the hacker moniker used by a pivotal figure in many popular Russian-language cybercrime forums. Severa was the moderator for the spam subsection of multiple online communities, and in this role served as the virtual linchpin connecting virus writers with huge spam networks that Severa allegedly created and sold himself.

Read more

DNI: Putin Led Cyber, Propaganda Effort to Elect Trump, Denigrate Clinton


Russian President Vladimir Putin directed a massive propaganda and cyber attack operation aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton and getting Donald Trump elected, the top U.S. intelligence agencies said in a remarkable yet unshocking report released on Friday.

Read more