Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The Justice Department boasted Monday that it captured one of the most prolific cyber criminals in the world in the continuing effort to crack down on the evolving cybercrime threat, the Associated Press reports.
Federal officials said 30-year-old Evgeniy Bogachev of Russia was the ringleader of a band of backers who infected hundreds of thousand of computers worldwide and stole more than $100 million from consumers and businesses.
As part of the scheme, the attackers implanted computers with malicious software to collect bank account numbers and passwords. The hackers also seized personal information like pictures and files from computers and only agreed to return control to users when they paid several hundred dollars in ransom.
Federal officials are working with Russia to bring U.S. charges against Bogachev.
