Somewhere off the shore of the Black Sea lives Evgeniy Bogachev—the notorious Russian hacker with a $3,000,000 bounty on his head. This man is the most wanted cybercriminal in all history. If he even sets foot outside of Russian territory, the United States will do whatever it takes to grab hold of him. He has been accused of money laundering, conspiring, and racketeering throughout the digital world.
He has operated for years through his online pseudonyms: lucky12345, slavik, and pollingsoon. It is under these names that he designed the malware called “GameOver Zeus” that his team installed without authorization onto over 1 million computers. This software retrieved passwords, bank account credentials, and more sensitive information that Bogachev and his accomplices used to drain the owners’ bank accounts.
Bogachev is accused of still having control over the 1 million computers. But this does not just mean information like we mentioned before, this means family vacation photos, documents, web history, everything. The United States fears this to be an easy outlet for Russian Intelligence, though, there is no proof to their utilizing him as of this point. As Russia and the United States hold no extradition laws with one another, Evgeniy Bogachev remains unpunished. In fact, this cybercriminal is openly leading a lavish lifestyle in a resort city along the coast of the Black Sea, accompanied by his fleet of luxury cars. As long as he’s seated in Russia and aiming at U.S. citizens, he is allowed to continue his criminal activities.
Keep in mind if someone like Bogachev is utilized as a tool in a cyberwar, that this would become a battle between nations. During a war between nations, loss of your valuable and personal information would only come as collateral damage. But there are many simple ways to protect yourself from these attacks. Crossroads can help you guarantee the safety of your assets through advanced security measures. With over 20 years of experience offering IT solutions, our team will be sure to have recommendations that fit your budget and business needs.