- Apr 21, 2016
- 4,370
The US Department of Justice confirms that it has filed charges against two Russian spies and two criminal hackers for the 2014 Yahoo hack that exposed 500 million user accounts.
The announcement was made at a news conference in Washington following rumors about the indictment from earlier today. This is the first time the United States government has criminally charged Russian officials for a cyber attack.
The officers of the FSB, which is Russia's Federal Security Service, a successor of the KGB, were identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and his superior, Igor Sushchin. They are both currently in Russia and chances are they won't ever see trial in the United States because there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
Dokuchaev is one of the two FSB officers arrested alongside Kaspersky manager Ruslan Stoyanov back in December and accused of treason over alleged cooperation with the CIA via an American company.
One hacker was arrested
The other two people accused are Alexsey Belan, one of the most wanted cyber criminals in the world, and Karim Baratov, Kazakgstan-born, but with Canadian citizenship. Baratov was already arrested this past Tuesday and his case is pending with local authorities since his arrest took place on Canadian territories.
Belan was actually arrested in Europe back in 2013, but managed to escape to Russia before he could be extradited to the United Stated, the Justice Department said.
"The criminal conduct at issue, carried out and otherwise facilitated by officers from an FSB unit that serves as the FBI's point of contact in Moscow on cyber crime matters, is beyond the pale," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord.
Read more: Two Russian Spies and Two Hackers Charged for 2014 Yahoo Hack
The announcement was made at a news conference in Washington following rumors about the indictment from earlier today. This is the first time the United States government has criminally charged Russian officials for a cyber attack.
The officers of the FSB, which is Russia's Federal Security Service, a successor of the KGB, were identified as Dmitry Dokuchaev and his superior, Igor Sushchin. They are both currently in Russia and chances are they won't ever see trial in the United States because there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
Dokuchaev is one of the two FSB officers arrested alongside Kaspersky manager Ruslan Stoyanov back in December and accused of treason over alleged cooperation with the CIA via an American company.
One hacker was arrested
The other two people accused are Alexsey Belan, one of the most wanted cyber criminals in the world, and Karim Baratov, Kazakgstan-born, but with Canadian citizenship. Baratov was already arrested this past Tuesday and his case is pending with local authorities since his arrest took place on Canadian territories.
Belan was actually arrested in Europe back in 2013, but managed to escape to Russia before he could be extradited to the United Stated, the Justice Department said.
"The criminal conduct at issue, carried out and otherwise facilitated by officers from an FSB unit that serves as the FBI's point of contact in Moscow on cyber crime matters, is beyond the pale," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mary McCord.
Read more: Two Russian Spies and Two Hackers Charged for 2014 Yahoo Hack
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