Russian hacker sentenced to 3 years in prison

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/562860p-4430289c.html

SEATTLE (October 5, 2002 2:53 p.m. EDT) - A Russian man snared in an
FBI scheme to catch computer hackers has been sentenced to three years
in prison for convictions on 20 counts of conspiracy, fraud and
related computer crimes.

Vasily Gorshkov, 27, of Chelyabinsk, Russia, was also ordered by U.S.  
District Judge John Coughenour to pay restitution of nearly $700,000
for losses he caused to Speakeasy Network of Seattle, and the online
credit card payment company PayPal of Palo Alto, Calif., U.S. Attorney
John McKay said Friday.

Gorshkov was one of two men from his home town persuaded to travel to
the United States as part of an FBI probe into Russian computer
intrusions directed at Internet Service Providers, e-commerce sites
and online banks in the United States.

The FBI set up a bogus Seattle computer security company called Invita
Security to snag the hackers, inviting them to demonstrate their
skills. They arrived Nov. 10, 2000, and met with undercover FBI
agents, ostensibly to discuss a partnership.

Gorshkov discussed their hacking prowess at that videotaped meeting
and took responsibility for various hacking activities, the U.S.  
attorney said in a statement. Gorshkov shrugged off any concern about
the FBI, saying the agency could not get them in Russia.

As the Russians demonstrated their skills at the shell company, the
FBI used what amounted to computer eavesdropping to gather the tools
it needed to reach across the Internet and break into their computer
system in Russia.

The men were arrested after the meeting.

Alexey Ivanov, 23, was transported to Connecticut to face charges in a
computer intrusion at the Online Information Bureau of Vernon, Conn.  
The status of his case was not immediately known late Friday.




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