Security News > 2002 > October > Russian hacker sentenced to 3 years in prison

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/562860p-4430289c.html SEATTLE (October 5, 2002 2:53 p.m. EDT) - A Russian man snared in an FBI scheme to catch computer hackers has been sentenced to three years in prison for convictions on 20 counts of conspiracy, fraud and related computer crimes. Vasily Gorshkov, 27, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge John Coughenour to pay restitution of nearly $700,000 for losses he caused to Speakeasy Network of Seattle, and the online credit card payment company PayPal of Palo Alto, Calif., U.S. Attorney John McKay said Friday. Gorshkov was one of two men from his home town persuaded to travel to the United States as part of an FBI probe into Russian computer intrusions directed at Internet Service Providers, e-commerce sites and online banks in the United States. The FBI set up a bogus Seattle computer security company called Invita Security to snag the hackers, inviting them to demonstrate their skills. They arrived Nov. 10, 2000, and met with undercover FBI agents, ostensibly to discuss a partnership. Gorshkov discussed their hacking prowess at that videotaped meeting and took responsibility for various hacking activities, the U.S. attorney said in a statement. Gorshkov shrugged off any concern about the FBI, saying the agency could not get them in Russia. As the Russians demonstrated their skills at the shell company, the FBI used what amounted to computer eavesdropping to gather the tools it needed to reach across the Internet and break into their computer system in Russia. The men were arrested after the meeting. Alexey Ivanov, 23, was transported to Connecticut to face charges in a computer intrusion at the Online Information Bureau of Vernon, Conn. The status of his case was not immediately known late Friday. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.

News URL

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/562860p-4430289c.html