Russian accused of being part of cybercrime ring extradited from South Korea to Ohio

Published:Dec 7, 202309:58
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US prosecutors allege that 38-year-old Vladimir Dunaev was part of a transnational felony group that since 2015 has tried to steal tens of millions of {dollars} from victims within the US and elsewhere.

The group allegedly used a chunk of malicious software program often known as Trickbot and different instruments to steal cash and confidential information from companies in a number of nations together with the US, United Kingdom, Russia and India. The hackers additionally focused the pc networks of hospitals, faculties, public utilities and governments, in accordance to prosecutors.

Dunaev is charged with conspiracy to commit pc fraud and aggravated identification theft, and a number of counts of wire and financial institution fraud, amongst different fees, the Justice Department stated. He faces up to 60 years in jail if convicted on all counts.

Dunaev entered a not responsible plea in his preliminary court docket look Thursday and waved detention, in accordance to Daniel Ball, a spokesman for the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

An legal professional for Dunaev couldn't be instantly reached for remark.

The arrest is a notable win for the US Justice Department, which is usually pressured to wait till accused Russian cybercriminals depart Russia to pursue them as a result of Washington and Moscow shouldn't have an extradition treaty. It comes because the Biden administration has tried to stress the Russian authorities to crack down on cybercrime amid continued ransomware assaults in opposition to US firms.

In a press launch that didn't point out Dunaev by title, the South Korean Ministry of Justice stated it had extradited a Russian nationwide accused of being concerned within the Trickbot malware to the United States on October 20. The ministry stated the Russian nationwide was arrested in June at South Korea's Incheon International Airport.

Another individual allegedly concerned with Trickbot, a Latvian nationwide often known as Alla Witte, was arrested in Miami in February and can also be being prosecuted within the Northern District of Ohio. Prosecutors accused Witte of writing pc "code related to the control, deployment, and payments of ransomware."

Witte pleaded not responsible in June, in accordance to Ball, the Northern District of Ohio spokesman.

Dunaev additionally allegedly used his technical abilities in help of Trickbot. According to prosecutors, he helped the malware keep away from being detected by safety software program.

The extradition of Dunaev follows the FBI and European regulation enforcement companies' arrest final month of two folks in Ukraine who've allegedly made multimillion-dollar ransom calls for following hacks of US organizations.

The Justice Department's pursuit of international cybercriminals is supposed as a complement to diplomatic stress that US officers are placing on Moscow to handle the problem. Despite a June assembly between Biden and Putin on the subject, ransomware assaults on US firms have continued.

Earlier this month a ransomware incident interrupted programming at Sinclair Broadcast Group, the second largest operator of TV stations within the US. A hacking device used to encrypt Sinclair's networks is comparable to malicious code beforehand utilized by a Russian crime group sanctioned by the US authorities, analysts instructed CNN.
State Department will form new cyber bureau
Trickbot has had a key position in some ransomware assaults on US firms; hackers have used the malicious software program to entry sufferer networks after which deploy ransomware to lock up their computer systems. The FBI and US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in October 2020 warned that Trickbot was being utilized in a wave of ransomware assaults on US well being care organizations.
Concerned by the potential menace of ransomware to election infrastructure in 2020, Microsoft and different tech firms final 12 months knocked some pc servers utilized by Trickbot offline.
While some of the folks allegedly concerned in Trickbot have been apprehended, the malicious code itself is alive and properly. Researchers with IBM reported this month some of the builders of Trickbot had begun working with two further felony teams to distribute malicious code to focused organizations.
The Biden administration has additionally sought to increase worldwide coordination in prosecuting ransomware teams and curbing their sources of income. The White House this month convened a 30-country digital assembly to that finish.

Andres Sutt, a senior Estonian authorities official who attended the assembly, instructed CNN that governments want to make investments a larger proportion of their IT budgets in cybersecurity to successfully defend in opposition to ransomware.

"If we look at the intensity of [ransomware] attacks, the sophistication, the impacts, I think it's only clear that we need to respond in being more cyber resilient," stated Sutt, who's Estonia's minister of entrepreneurship and knowledge know-how.



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