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M1CUK > INFO 07.10.02 18:39l 70 Lines 2872 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 20607-GB7FCR
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: Russian Hackers caught by FBI
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Sent: 021007/1612Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:20607 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:20607-GB
From: M1CUK@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : INFO@WW
FBI sting snares top Russian crackers
By John Leyden
Posted: 07/10/2002 at 11:05 GMT
A Russian cracker, tricked by the FBI into visiting the US on
the pretext of a job interview, has been sentenced to three
years in jail.
Vasiliy Gorshkov, 27, was also ordered to pay $690,000 in
compensation for his crimes by Federal District Court Judge
John Coughenour, who took his family's medical and financial
problems into account in sentencing the Russian to serve far
less time than the 16 years demanded by prosecutors.
Last October, Gorshkov was convicted of 20 counts of conspiracy,
various computer crimes, and fraud against online banks and
e-commerce operations. His co-accused, Alexey Ivanov, 20,
pleaded guilty in August to similar charges along with five
counts of extortion, Reuters reports. He is currently in custody,
awaiting sentencing.
The circumstances surrounding the November 2000 arrests of the
pair put the spotlight of FBI tactics used in the case and
prompted Russia's counterintelligence service, the FSB, to
take the unprecedented step of charging FBI Agent Michael
Schuler with hacking.
Schuler was praised by US authorities for an elaborate ruse
that resulted in the arrests of Gorshkov and Ivanov. The
operation arose out of a nationwide FBI investigation into
Russian computer intrusions against e-commerce sites, and
online banks which identified Gorshkov and Ivanov as prime
suspects.
It was suspected the pair cracked into victims' computers to
steal credit card information and other financial information,
prior to attempting to extort money from the victims with
threats to expose the sensitive data to the public or damage
the victims' systems. Gorshkov and Ivanov were also suspected
of defrauding PayPal through a scheme in which stolen credit
cards were used to generate cash and to pay for computer parts.
The FBI lured the two to the US by posing as representatives of
the fictional 'Invita' security firm, and offering the dynamic
duo good jobs if they could prove their skills.
Of course the Feds set up a box rigged with a key logger and then
set the pair to work demonstrating their amazing prowess.
When they accessed their machines back home, the Feds recorded
the login info, and later returned to root the boxes.
Having placed the pair in handcuffs, the FBI obtained a wealth of
evidence from the compromised machines.
All perfectly above-board a judge said, ruling that Russian law
does not apply to the agents' actions. Russia disagreed and,
anxious to assert its sovereignty, filed a complaint against
Schuler to the US Department of Justice.
No further news of that as yet. The case will probably die a
quiet death with some form of diplomatic compromises and vague
promises from the FBI to work more closely with the Russians
in future.
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Regards
Trev..
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