A real prison term was given to an Estonian citizen who for a long time was a member of a major Russian-speaking criminal forum and participated in large-scale cyber attacks on various organizations, gaining about $ 11 million from this. In 2020, he was arrested in Latvia and extradited to the United States.
66 months
In early 2022, a US court sentenced Estonian citizen Maxim Berezan to 66 months in prison for participating in large-scale ransomware attacks.
According to the indictment against Berezan, between July 2009 and December 2015. Berezan was a member of the closed Russian-language crime forum DirectConnection. You can become a member only on the recommendation of other members. Berezan enlisted the support of three old-timers of the forum at once.
At the forum, Berezan specialized in carding — using stolen payment cards to make fraudulent purchases, as well as cashing out funds and transporting goods bought with stolen money.
Berezan was very active and achieved considerable influence there. In addition, he was involved in large-scale ransomware attacks that caused a total of $53 million in damage.
La Dolce Vita
After the arrest in Latvia, the police seized all of Berezan's devices and found evidence of his participation in at least 13 attacks, seven of which were aimed at targets in the United States. The victims—apparently large organizations—paid about $11 million in ransom.
The convict himself used part of the funds to buy two Porsche cars, a Ducati motorcycle and a significant amount of jewelry. In Berezan's own home, there were devices with details of bitcoin wallets, on which cryptocurrencies were stored with a total value of about $ 1.7 million. And another $200,000 was seized in hard currency.
“Definitely, he did not act alone, it’s just that, apparently, he covered his tracks worse than others. Most likely, as part of a deal with justice, he betrayed one of his accomplices, although this is just an assumption, ”says Mikhail Zaitsev, an information security expert at SEQ.
66 months
In early 2022, a US court sentenced Estonian citizen Maxim Berezan to 66 months in prison for participating in large-scale ransomware attacks.
According to the indictment against Berezan, between July 2009 and December 2015. Berezan was a member of the closed Russian-language crime forum DirectConnection. You can become a member only on the recommendation of other members. Berezan enlisted the support of three old-timers of the forum at once.
At the forum, Berezan specialized in carding — using stolen payment cards to make fraudulent purchases, as well as cashing out funds and transporting goods bought with stolen money.
Berezan was very active and achieved considerable influence there. In addition, he was involved in large-scale ransomware attacks that caused a total of $53 million in damage.
La Dolce Vita
After the arrest in Latvia, the police seized all of Berezan's devices and found evidence of his participation in at least 13 attacks, seven of which were aimed at targets in the United States. The victims—apparently large organizations—paid about $11 million in ransom.
The convict himself used part of the funds to buy two Porsche cars, a Ducati motorcycle and a significant amount of jewelry. In Berezan's own home, there were devices with details of bitcoin wallets, on which cryptocurrencies were stored with a total value of about $ 1.7 million. And another $200,000 was seized in hard currency.
“Definitely, he did not act alone, it’s just that, apparently, he covered his tracks worse than others. Most likely, as part of a deal with justice, he betrayed one of his accomplices, although this is just an assumption, ”says Mikhail Zaitsev, an information security expert at SEQ.
