October 13, 2015
A Ukrainian man who allegedly tried to frame cyber-security expert Brian Krebs has been extradited to the United States and is due in Newark federal court today, prosecutors said.
Sergey Vovnenko is accused of taking part in an international conspiracy to hack into the computer networks of individual users and corporations to steal log-in credentials and payment card data, prosecutors said.
According to court records, Vovnenko operated a “botnet” — more than 13,000 computers infected with malicious computer software — programmed to gain unauthorized access to computers and to identify, store and export information from hacked computers. Prosecutors said that Vovnenko and others would then use the stolen data to illegally access and withdraw money from bank accounts and to incur unauthorized charges.