Malware download prompts were embedded in Microsoft Excel files:
Aktulaev was extradited to the U.S. in August 2026, five years after his arrest in Cyprus in May 2021. He made his first appearance in federal court in San Francisco — after which he was remanded to federal custody — and is scheduled to appear in district court on October 5, 2026. The arrest was made after an FBI investigation, and the case is being prosecuted by the National Security, Cyber, and Special Prosecutions Section.
The attack used TVRAT (TeamViewer Remote Access Trojan) and DarkVNC malware, both of which grant the attacker remote control of the infected system. TVRAT exploits TeamViewer, while DarkVNC exploits VNC Viewer, popular remote administration tools. The malware stole and uploaded data from the victims' computers to a command-and-control server, from which Aktulaev and his co-conspirators extracted the stolen data to “commit fraud and other criminal activities”.
The indictment says thousands of computers infected by the TVRAT malware were “calling back” to a command-and-control domain hosted in the United States, which was paid for using virtual currency. Roughly half of the victims were in the United States, many of whom were Northern District of California residents, according to the indictment.
“A database found on the command-and-control domain revealed thousands of victims. Additionally, a shared document on the email account used in the criminal activities contained information to include e-commerce login credentials, as well as personally identifiable information (“PII”) for hundreds of victims,” the press release said.
If convicted, Aktulaev could spend up to 20 years behind bars and pay a $250,000 fine or twice the total illicit gains for the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge alone. The other charges carry terms ranging from two to twenty years in prison, in addition to fines. Meanwhile, the FBI is currently investigating another hack in which 153 million US and Canadian drivers’ licenses were leaked on a Russian cybercrime forum.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 09, @02:47AM (6 children)
5 years of imprisonment awaiting trial?
Justice is an oxymoron all by itself.
🌻🌻🌻🌻✌️ [google.com]
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09, @09:18AM (1 child)
It's even more crazy when you consider that MAGA America is essentially a puppet/vassal state of Russia.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09, @01:27PM
Nah, more like a vassal state of Israel.
Russia might be a minority owner but Israel is clearly the majority owner.
https://www.trackaipac.com/ [trackaipac.com]
https://globalaffairs.org/commentary-and-analysis/blogs/how-us-has-used-its-power-un-support-israel-decades [globalaffairs.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehud_Barak#Relationship_with_Jeffrey_Epstein [wikipedia.org]
Robert Maxwell was Epstein's girlfriend's father: https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/why-was-a-villain-laid-to-rest-among-heroes/ [timesofisrael.com]
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 09, @01:19PM
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Unixnut on Wednesday September 09, @05:49PM (2 children)
The saying "The process is the punishment" comes to mind. Even if they can't convict him in the end making as much of his life miserable and difficult is a close second, bonus if they can keep him in prison indefinitely until trial -- almost removes the need to bring him to trial at all.
I find it odd that he can be brought to trial in the USA as a non US citizen having committed no crime on US soil. Sure some people from the US were affected, but so would have been others from other countries. I don't see how this could work if every country wants to enforce its laws against non residents/citizens living in other countries.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday September 09, @06:14PM
>I don't see how this could work if every country wants to enforce its laws against non residents/citizens living in other countries.
Brave New World - because you can "damage" US interests, and the US can extradite you - there you are.
I suppose he might have also damaged Maltese interests, but Malta doesn't have the priority / capacity to get first dibs. Maybe if the US trial goes poorly they can hand him around for a lifetime of justice.
🌻🌻🌻🌻✌️ [google.com]
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Tuesday September 15, @01:30PM
why do you think unauthorized access, identity theft, fraud, and extortion are not crimes? All of these are crimes in the US. All of these were comitted against thousands of people in the US.