US Convicts Russian Malware-masker

The United States has convicted a Russian cyber-criminal of running a malware-masking service that helped hackers systematically infect victim computers around the world with malware, including ransomware.

On Tuesday, a federal jury in Connecticut found 41-year-old native Estonian Oleg Koshkin guilty of operating a crypting business via multiple websites, including “Crypt4U.com,” and “fud.bz.”

On the websites, Koshkin and his co-conspirators claimed that they could render malicious software such as botnets, remote-access trojans, keyloggers, credential stealers and cryptocurrency miners undetectable by nearly every major provider of antivirus software. 

According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, Koshkin worked with Kelihos botnet operator Peter Yuryevich Levashov (aka Sergey Astakhov aka Petr Severa) to create a system that would allow Levashov to crypt the Kelihos malware multiple times per day. 

"Koshkin provided Levashov with a custom, high-volume crypting service that enabled Levashov to distribute Kelihos through multiple criminal affiliates," said a Department of Justice spokesperson.

"Levashov used the Kelihos botnet to send spam, harvest account credentials, conduct denial of service attacks, and distribute ransomware and other malicious software." 

The Kelihos botnet included at least 50,000 compromised computers around the world when it was dismantled in 2017 by the FBI following Levashov's arrest in Barcelona. After extradition to the United States, Levashov pleaded guilty in 2018 to one count of causing intentional damage to a protected computer, one count of conspiracy, one count of wire fra ..

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