The United States Secret Service is doubling down on the search for cybercriminal “Stalin.”
On August 26, 2024, the U.S Department of State partnered with the US Secret Service to put out a bounty of up to $2.5 million for information leading to the arrest of Belarusian hacker Volodymyr Kadariya, sometimes going by the alias “Stalin.”
Kadariya was allegedly part of a malicious advertising (“malvertising”) ring responsible for transmitting the Angler Exploit Kit, a toolkit utilized by threat actors to exploit vulnerabilities in a system or code.
From October 2013 to March 2022, millions fell victim to the malvertising ring’s campaigns, which appeared legitimate ads but redirected users to malicious sites that “sought to defraud the users or delivered malware to the users’ devices.” Kadariya and his co-conspirators are also accused of running “scareware ads” that claim to detect a virus in user devices in an attempt to deceive the user into buying malware, as well as selling access to compromised devices on Russian cybercrime forums.
Kadiya’s colleague Maksym Silnikou has been charged with international computer hacking and wire fraud schemes, while both Kadiya and third co-conspirator Andrei Tarasov are still at large. Both Kadariya and Tarasov may face over 50 years in prison for counts of wire fraud conspiracy, computer fraud conspiracy, and wire fraud count if convicted.
Backpage owners given custodial sentence
Meanwhile, the U.S. authorities have also charged three people alleged to have been behind the notorious $500 million prostitution website, Backpage.
In a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice, court documents and evidence presented have identified Arizona natives Michael Lacey, Scott Spear, and John Brunst to be the co-owners of Backpage. The website was known to be the “leading forum for prostitution ads,” having amassed over $500 million in revenue from September 2010 until the website’s seizure in April 2018. Lacey, Spear, and Brunst attempted to launder the money through various shell companies.
“The defendants thought they could hide their illicit proceeds by laundering the funds through shell companies in foreign countries. But they were wrong,” said head of the Justice Department’s Criminal division, Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri. “Their sentences should serve as a stark reminder that the Criminal Division and its law enforcement partners are committed to protecting victims and following the money to unmask those who exploit human beings for financial gain.”
