Russian national pleads guilty to US cybercrime charges

[December 01, 2023]  (Reuters) - A Russian national who was extradited to the United States from South Korea earlier this year pleaded guilty on Thursday to federal charges stemming from his role in a cybercriminal organization, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Prosecutors say Vladimir Dunaev, 40, was a member of a cybercriminal organization that deployed a computer banking trojan and ransomware suite of malware known as "Trickbot."

A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

Dunaev pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

He faces a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison on both counts, when he is sentenced in March.

In July, Russia allowed the U.S. ambassador to Moscow to visit detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich in jail there on the same day that Russian embassy staff were given access to Dunaev.

A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said the visit to Gershkovich was "on a reciprocal basis," suggesting that officials there were using Dunaev's case as diplomacy.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Sonali Paul)

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