Russian hacker was sentenced in the US to a fine of $ 6.9 million – RBC

Photo: Bloomberg

Russian hacker Nikita Kuzmin was sentenced in the US to be paid compensation for the damage caused by his actions in the amount of $ 7 million. The court took into account his cooperation with the authorities and did not appoint him longer than he had already spent in prison

Nikita Kuzmin Russian citizen sentenced in the US to 37 months in prison and compensation in the amount of $ 6.9 million for the creation of Gozi virus, which has infected more than a million computers around the world, reports Bloomberg referring to the decision of the court of the Southern district of New York. The agency notes that the defendant score? Its cooperation with the authorities and did not appoint the above sentence already served their prison during the investigation.

The prosecutor Nicole Friedlander told the judge that the motive was greed Kuzmina action. According to her, the accused spent the stolen money on luxury sports cars, as well as “extravagant travel and entertainment in Europe and Russia».

the prosecution noted that Kuzmin had the US government “significant” assistance, but details its cooperation with the authorities have not been made public.

Kuzmin was arrested in 2010, and in 2011 he pleaded guilty to the crime. According to the materials of the case, the defendant and two other defendants have developed a malicious program called “virus Gozi», which allowed them to steal money from bank accounts in Europe and the United States. The representative of the prosecution stressed that the damage from the activities of the defendants amounted to tens of millions of dollars.

In the past, the citizen of Latvia Denis Chalovskis (Čalovski) was convicted in the United States, which, according to investigators, wrote a piece of code that allows you to enter computer systems in particular banks. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, which he had already served during the investigation.

The third accused Mihai Ionut Paunesku was arrested in Romania in December 2012. According to the US Attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara, he is awaiting extradition to the United States.

In the materials of the case, as noted by Bloomberg, said that the virus has infected the computer of the victim, as a rule, after the victim to download and open the document. With the help of malicious programs, hackers obtained data on the user’s bank accounts, including their usernames and passwords.

The investigation revealed that on the server that stored the stolen data, contained about 10 thousand. Account information, which belonged more 5.2 thousand. people. The prosecution pointed out that among the victims were more than 160 NASA employees. Virus-infected computers Gozi were also found in Germany, Great Britain, Poland, France, Finland, Italy and Turkey, according to the materials of the case.