Security News > 2020 > November > Russian jailed for eight years in the US for writing code that sifted botnet logs for web banking creds for fraudsters

Brovko was tasked with sifting through the logs of these botnets for internet banking credentials vacuumed by the malware, which were subsequently used by fellow conspirators to steal millions of dollars from Americans' accounts in fraudulent transfers.

"Where his computer code could not effectively parse the data, Brovko supplemented his computer-automated efforts with manual searches of the data," his indictment [PDF] noted.

Despite facing eight years in jail and a further five years of supervised release, Brovko came off easy: the recommended sentencing for his crimes was 20 to 24 years.

The official announcement of his sentence claimed Brovko was part of a "$100m botnet conspiracy," though that figure is a little suspect: it was based on details of 200,000 devices and PCs stored on Brovko's computer gear multiplied by $500, the minimum dollar value required by law for a charge of unauthorized device access.

The lawyer thus argued Brovko should not be given a longer jail term than Tverdokhlebov, which is something the judge ultimately agreed with, giving him eight years in the clink compared to Tverdokhlebov's nine.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/11/02/botnet_brovko_jailed/