Mikhail D. Prokhorov

April 9, 2017

Alleged Spam King Pyotr Levashov Arrested

This post was originally published on this siteAuthorities in Spain have arrested a Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins. Spanish police arrested Pyotr Levashov under an international warrant executed in the city of Barcelona, according to Reuters. Russian state-run television station RT (formerly Russia Today) reported that Levashov was arrested while vacationing in Spain with his family. Spamdot.biz moderator Severa listing prices to rent his Waledac spam botnet. According to numerous stories here at KrebsOnSecurity, Levashov was better known as “Severa,” the hacker moniker used by a pivotal figure in many Russian-language cybercrime forums. Severa was […]
February 5, 2018

Alleged Spam Kingpin ‘Severa’ Extradited to US

This post was originally published on this sitePeter Yuryevich Levashov, a 37-year-old Russian computer programmer thought to be one of the world’s most notorious spam kingpins, has been extradited to the United States to face federal hacking and spamming charges. Levashov, in an undated photo. Levashov, who allegedly went by the hacker names “Peter Severa,” and “Peter of the North,” hails from St. Petersburg in northern Russia, but he was arrested last year while in Barcelona, Spain with his family. Authorities have long suspected he is the cybercriminal behind the once powerful spam botnet known as Waledac (a.k.a. “Kelihos”), a now-defunct […]