Security News > 2021 > October > Bulletproof hosting admins sentenced for helping cybercrime gangs
Two Eastern European men were sentenced to prison on Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization charges for bulletproof hosting services used by multiple cybercrime operations to target US organizations.
The bulletproof hosting service also helped cybercrime gangs register new infrastructure using stolen or false identities that allowed them to circumvent law enforcement efforts to block their attacks.
A key service provided by the defendants was helping their clients to evade detection by law enforcement and continue their crimes uninterrupted; the defendants did so by monitoring sites used to blocklist technical infrastructure used for crime, moving "Flagged" content to new infrastructure, and registering all such infrastructure under false or stolen identities.
DOJ. The bulletproof hosting service was founded by Russian citizens Aleksandr Grichishkin and Andrei Skvortsov, who were also indicted in the same case.
The bulletproof hosting founders also face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
"Cybercrime presents a serious and persistent threat to the United States, and these prosecutions send a clear message that 'bulletproof hosters' who purposely aid other cybercriminals are responsible, and will be held accountable, for the harms their criminal clients cause within our borders," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.