MERRIFIELD, Va.—Krebs on Security is reporting that the head of a Russian hacking group, along with six other individuals, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Dmitri Fedotov, who was known as “Paunch,” authored one of the more successful pieces of malware to invade financial institutions websites. The software is called "Blackhole," and it was responsible for millions being taken from small- to mid-size businesses.
“For credit unions, this story highlights why taking care of your website is so important,” stated the League of Southeastern Credit Unions & Affiliates.
Krebs writes that "BlackHole is commercial crimeware designed to be stitched into hacked or malicious sites and exploit a variety of web-browser vulnerabilities for the purposes of installing malware of the customer’s choosing." Over the years, Fedotov's group stole about $2.3 million.
Krebs believes this arrest is significant. He writes that he "would argue that Blackhole was perhaps the most important driving force behind an explosion of cyber fraud over the past three years. A majority of Paunch’s customers were using the kit to grow botnets powered by Zeus and Citadel, banking Trojans that are typically used in cyberheists targeting consumers and small businesses."
The Krebs on Security Post can be found here.