Kingpin of Evil Corp lived large. Now there's a $5 million bounty on his head

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/12/members-of-evil-corp-the-cybercrime-group-that-lived-in-luxury-are-indicted/

By Dan Goodin
Ars Technica
12/5/2019

Federal prosecutors have indicted the kingpin of Evil Corp, the name used by a 
cybercrime gang that used the notorious Dridex malware to drain more than $70 
million from bank accounts in the US, UK, and other countries.

Maksim V. Yakubets, a 32-year-old Russian national who used the handle "Aqua," 
led one of the world's most advanced transnational cybercrime syndicates in the 
world, prosecutors said on Thursday. The crime group's alleged deployment of 
Dridex was one of the most widespread malware campaigns ever. The UK's National 
Crime Agency said the syndicate used the name Evil Corp.

Dridex was configured to target the customers of almost 300 different 
organizations in more than 40 countries by automating the theft of online 
banking credentials and other confidential information from infected computers. 
Over time, Dridex creators updated the malware to install ransomware. 
Previously known as Bugat and Cridex, Dridex used zeroday exploits and 
malicious attachments in emails to infect targets. The malware was designed to 
bypass antivirus and other security defenses.

Yakubets and another alleged Dridex operator, 38-year-old Igor Turashev, also 
from Russia, allegedly used the captured banking credentials to order 
electronic money transfers from compromised accounts. Prosecutors said the men 
funneled the stolen funds into the accounts of money mules who would move the 
funds into other accounts or convert them to cash and smuggle it overseas. 
Yubets was the leader of the crime group, prosecutors said. Turashev allegedly 
handled a host of roles, including system administration, management of an 
internal control panel, and oversight of a botnet that controlled infected 
computers.

[...]


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