COURT DOC: Cyber Criminal Pleads Guilty to Developing and Distributing Notorious SpyEye Malware

Aleksandr Andreevich Panin, a Russian national also known as ‘Gribodemon’ and ‘Harderman,’ has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud for his role as the primary developer and distributor of the malicious software known as ‘SpyEye,’ which, according to industry estimates, has infected over 1.4 million computers in the United States and abroad.

According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: SpyEye is a sophisticated malicious computer code that is designed to automate the theft of confidential personal and financial information, such as online banking credentials, credit card information, usernames, passwords, PINs, and other personally identifying information. The SpyEye virus facilitates this theft of information by secretly infecting victims computers, enabling cybercriminals to remotely control the infected computers through command and control (‘C2’) servers. Once a computer is infected and under their control, cybercriminals can remotely access the infected computers, without authorization, and steal victims personal and financial information through a variety of techniques, including ‘web injects,’ ‘keystroke loggers,’ and ‘credit card grabbers.’ The victims stolen personal and financial data is then surreptitiously transmitted to the C2 servers, where it is used to steal money from the victims financial accounts. (Source: FBI)