Cybersecurity
U.S. Crackdown on Russian Hackers Ensnares Notorious Spammer
- Botnets were allegedly used to hack email, bank accounts
- Human-rights lawyer claims U.S. didn’t use normal procedures
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U.S. efforts to disrupt Russian hacking rings took another step as a 10-year pursuit of a Russian man whom U.S. prosecutors called one of the world’s most notorious email spammers ended with his arrest in Spain last week.
Peter Levashov, of St. Petersburg, Russia, hacked into email and bank accounts of thousands of Americans, federal prosecutors said Monday in a statement. They said he also operated under the name Peter Severa, who is among the top 10 of the world’s worst spammers, according to a list maintained by the antispam organization Spamhaus.