Vladimir Putin

January 8, 2017

DNI: Putin Led Cyber, Propaganda Effort to Elect Trump, Denigrate Clinton

This post was originally published on this siteRussian President Vladimir Putin directed a massive propaganda and cyber operation aimed at discrediting Hillary Clinton and getting Donald Trump elected, the top U.S. intelligence agencies said in a remarkable yet unshocking report released on Friday. Russian President Vladimir Putin tours RT facilities. Image: DNI The 25-page dossier from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stopped short of saying the Russians succeeded at influencing the outcome of the election, noting that the report did not attempt to make an assessment on that front. But it makes the case that “Russia’s intelligence […]
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 […]
April 24, 2017

The Backstory Behind Carder Kingpin Roman Seleznev’s Record 27 Year Prison Sentence

This post was originally published on this siteRoman Seleznev, a 32-year-old Russian cybercriminal and prolific credit card thief, was sentenced Friday to 27 years in federal prison. That is a record punishment for hacking violations in the United States and by all accounts one designed to send a message to criminal hackers everywhere. But a close review of the case suggests that Seleznev’s record sentence was severe in large part because the evidence against him was substantial and yet he declined to cooperate with prosecutors prior to his trial. The Maldives is a South Asian island country, located in the Indian Ocean, […]
August 30, 2017

Twitter Bots Use Likes, RTs for Intimidation

This post was originally published on this siteI awoke this morning to find my account on Twitter (@briankrebs) had attracted almost 12,000 new followers overnight. Then I noticed I’d gained almost as many followers as the number of re-tweets (RTs) earned for a tweet I published on Tuesday. The tweet stated how every time I tweet something related to Russian President Vladimir Putin I get a predictable stream of replies that are in support of President Trump — even in cases when neither Trump nor the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign were even mentioned. This tweet about Putin generated more than 12,000 retweets and […]