14 DAY TRIAL // Russian hacker Peter Levashov was indicted on eight counts of fraud, conspiracy, and identity theft. Levashov, who was arrested in Spain early this month, is believed to be Severa, the hacker behind the Kelihos botnet, one of the largest spam operations in the world.
The indictment comes from a federal grand jury in Connecticut, which came together on Friday in order to lay out all accusations the US has against Levashov.
The 36-year-old hacker was arrested in Spain on April 7 as he was there on vacation with his family. For a few hours after news broke, it was believed that the US authorities were after him because of his involvement with the Democratic National Committee hack during the 2016 US elections and the subsequent email leak. A few hours later, however, it became evident that his arrest was related to the Kelihos botnet, which prosecutors believe was used to spread spam and malware to millions of people. Some of the emails sent out via this botnet advertised counterfeit drugs, work-at-home schemes, as well as other scams, while others carried malware.
The end of Kelihos
The Justice Department said that following Levashov's arrest, they started dismantling the network.
"The ability of botnets like Kelihos to be weaponized quickly for vast and varied types of harms is a dangerous and deep threat to all Americans, driving at the core of how we communicate, network, earn a living, and live our everyday lives," said Kenneth Blanco, acting Assistant Attorney General.
"Our success in disrupting the Kelihos botnet was the result of strong cooperation between private industry experts and law enforcement, and the use of innovative legal and technical tactics. The Department of Justice is committed to combatting cybercrime, no matter the size or sophistication of the scheme, and to punish those who are engaged in such crimes," he added.
The full list of charges brought against Levashov includes conspiracy, threatening to damage a protected computer, aggravated identity theft, causing intentional damage to a protected computer, accessing protected computers in furtherance of fraud, and wire fraud.