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'Blackhole' Exploit Kit Author Gets 7 Years (krebsonsecurity.com)

Posted by msmash on from the showing-the-door dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A Moscow court this week convicted and sentenced seven hackers for breaking into countless online bank accounts -- including "Paunch," the nickname used by the author of the infamous "Blackhole" exploit kit. Once an extremely popular crimeware-as-a-service offering, Blackhole was for several years responsible for a large percentage of malware infections and stolen banking credentials, and likely contributed to tens of millions of dollars stolen from small to mid-sized businesses over several years. According to Russia's ITAR-TASS news network, Dmitry "Paunch" Fedotov was sentenced on April 12 to seven years in a Russian penal colony. In October 2013, the then 27-year-old Fedotov was arrested along with an entire team of other cybercriminals who worked to sell, develop and profit from Blackhole."He was helping a lot of gangs that were robbing Russian banks," Krebs tweeted, "They tend not to have a sense of humor about that."

23 comments

  1. I'm not ashmed to say that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now the only thing I need is a fingerprint of this tool being used in my network so I can find my first victm of murder.

  2. Incompetence by ebcdic · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    When you cut and paste from another site, don't forget to remove the picture captions.

  3. Porsche by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Learn to spell or use a spell checker!

  4. seven years in a Russian penal colony by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    ...seven years in a Russian penal colony, where he will be making pottery such as this:
    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a2/f3/8b/a2f38b160579995e875f515486aad47e.jpg

    1. Re:seven years in a Russian penal colony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's a "penal" colony; not a "penile" colony.

    2. Re:seven years in a Russian penal colony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dude he's going to jail. It will be a penile colony. He just has to wait for his initiation.

    3. Re:seven years in a Russian penal colony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      not quite so.

      In adult Russian prisons, you can get branded as a "petuh"(rooster) and then its free for anyone to use you as their sex toy. You will be beaten by everybody, if you resist. They'll even give you a spoon and a cup, with holes punched through the metal, so no one else might use them. (get it?!)

      They will also tattoo you with special signs (on face, chest, buttocks, sometimes also 1 finger), so that others may see your real status when you get transferred. Usually, you have to do something very very extremely wrong.... to get that treatment.

      If he's a relatively well connected one, with money for bribes, he wont be thrown into "press-hata"(black site on the prison premises, run by inmates) or some such. He'll never have to work, there will be a color tv in his cell, and a visit from a hooker now and then.

      Then there's always a possibility he pissed off someone better connected, and THEN IF that is the case... likely he'll commit suicide by beating his head against the latrine or some such :D

    4. Re:seven years in a Russian penal colony by ArylAkamov · · Score: 1

      A dick with wings!?

  5. Well, as they say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... if you want to rob a bank, you've got to found one first.

  6. Proofread much? by bigjocker · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Or just copy/paste?

    millions of dollars stolen from small to mid-sized businesses over several years. Paunch, the accused creator of the Blackhole Exploit Kit, stands in front of his Porche Cayenne. Fedotov, the convicted creator of the Blackhole Exploit Kit

    --
    Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow.
  7. It's Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how quickly they can crack, arrest and convict cybercrooks when they're stealing from the elites.

  8. Two thoughts by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Firstly, if he was rich enough to have a Porche (roughly $100K, depending on options), he was probably making a lot of money. A smart person could be putting that money away to become financially independent.

    Trading 7 years for not having to work for the rest of your life sounds like a good trade to me.

    (Assuming he was smart enough to sock away the money, assuming that it wasn't confiscated, and assuming he can tolerate Russian prison.)

    Secondly, the guy who made the BlackHole exploit kit that cost businesses tens of millions of dollars got seven years, while Aaron Swartz was violating JSTOR's terms of service (and technically trespassing) and was charged with $1 million in fines, 35 years in prison, asset forfeiture, restitution, and supervised release.

    (Apples and oranges, I know. Russians don't have a "sense of humor" when it comes to robbing businesses in other countries.)

    1. Re:Two thoughts by gtall · · Score: 2

      So, trading 7 years of your life for stealing others money so you don't have to work the rest of your life sounds like a good trade to you? How about if someone got 7 years for stealing all of your money, would that be a fair trade? Oh, what, you don't have enough for him to not work the rest of his life? Okay, we'll prorate his sentence so something much more reasonable. If you are on Slashdot, you probably don't have a lot of money. Although it might seem a lot to you, I assure you that in the general scheme of things, it isn't. So let's give him...about....3 months. That should cover the crime, yes?

      Your lack of ethics is illuminating.

    2. Re:Two thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your lack of reading comprehension is obscuring.

    3. Re:Two thoughts by Frank+Burly · · Score: 1

      I'll chime in with what the apples and oranges were: Schwartz' maximum possible sentence in the US to the actual sentence for another person for worse crime in Russia.

    4. Re:Two thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When my money is forcibly taken from me, I lose my sense of humor too.

      That's (one reason of many) why I will never marry. Divorce = wallet rape.

      I don't dodge taxes though, as I understand the necessity...even though too much of it gets spent on stupid or harmful bullshit.

    5. Re:Two thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Trading 7 years for not having to work for the rest of your life sounds like a good trade to me.

      Assuming you are OK with never making a noise by farting for the rest of your life because your asshole got so ruined and just hangs gaped open permanently from all the ass-rape you got in prison.

      Yeah. good trade.

  9. Stop being insulting by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    He'll be spending 7 years in a cushy resort while *working* for the FSB. His Cayenne is probably already there waiting, along with a 'companion' or two.

    If someone believe Putins' Russia would actually punish hackers instead of rewarding and employing them, that person is even too stupid to try and sell them the Brooklyn Bridge.

    1. Re:Stop being insulting by Nidi62 · · Score: 2

      He'll be spending 7 years in a cushy resort while *working* for the FSB. His Cayenne is probably already there waiting, along with a 'companion' or two. If someone believe Putins' Russia would actually punish hackers instead of rewarding and employing them, that person is even too stupid to try and sell them the Brooklyn Bridge.

      They stole from Russian banks. Of course they are going to be punished. The FSB might still recruit them afterwards, but the banks are going to want their pound of flesh first. They should have only target victims outside of Russia.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re: Stop being insulting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Afterwards? After what? Prison? Are you serious? Do you know what happens to nerds in prison? Think high school without the limits imposed by school regs. They end up as smears on the wall quite quickly.

  10. Sense of humor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I find that in Soviet Russia, humor laughs at you.

    --sf

  11. Stephen Hawkings is next! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hawkings had no comment when asked about his theoretical connections to blackholes.