Alleged mastermind behind GozNym gang apprehended by FBI

FBI and Europol confirm the man who was allegedly behind the GozNym cybercrime crew has been apprehended and charged, Forbes writes. The Eastern European gang attempted stealing as much as $100 million from 44,000 computers. It remains uncertain how much the purported cybercriminals managed to steal.

While the FBI is still looking for five Russians connected to the crime, law enforcement apprehended Alexander Konovolov and his alleged accomplice, Marat Kazandjian. The men are being prosecuted in Georgia. An indictment charging ten men accused of being part of GozNym crew has been unsealed by the U.S.; according to the indictment, Konovolov was responsible for assembling the crew while Kazandjian presided over the technical part of the operations.

GozNym hacked into Windows PCs and collected users’ banking passwords when the victims used their banking accounts. Then, they’d break into victims’ accounts and make money transfers. IBM’s global executive security advisor Limor Kessem said some of the targeted businesses had found out about the transfers before the money left their accounts.

“Those still on the run will probably be extra careful to stay in parts of the world where extradition laws do not apply,” she said.

Last month, another GozNym crew member Krasimir Nikolov admitted to “three counts of cybercriminal activity.”