Security News > 2024 > August > U.S. Releases High-Profile Russian Hackers in Diplomatic Prisoner Exchange

In a historic prisoner exchange between Belarus, Germany, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, and the U.S., two Russian nationals serving time for cybercrime activities have been freed and repatriated to their country.

U.S. President Joe Biden called the deal a "Feat of diplomacy," adding "Some of these women and men have been unjustly held for years." Other nations that played a role in the swap include Poland and Turkey.

Among those released from Russia are former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Vladimir Kara-Murza, a green-card holder and a prominent critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.

The other Russian national going home is Klyushin, the owner of security penetration testing firm M-13 who was sentenced in the U.S. last September for stealing confidential financial information from U.S. companies in a $93 million insider-trading scheme.

"Not since the Cold War has there been a similar number of individuals exchanged in this way and there has never, so far as we know, been an exchange involving so many countries, so many close U.S. partners and allies working together," National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was quoted as saying.

The development comes as the U.K. National Crime Agency announced the shutdown of a fraud platform called Russian Coms that allowed its customers to make over 1.3 million anonymous calls between 2021 and 2024 by masquerading as banks and law enforcement agencies.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2024/08/us-releases-high-profile-russian.html