Ukrainian national Vyacheslav Igorevich Penchukov, one of the heads of the notorious JabberZeus cybercrime gang, has pleaded guilty to charges related to his leadership roles in the Zeus and IcedID malware groups.
Penchukov (also known as ‘tank’ and ‘father’) was arrested in Switzerland in October 2022 while traveling to meet his wife in Geneva and extradited to the United States in 2023.
The suspect was arrested in 2022 in Ukraine and charged in 2021.
The U.S. Department of Justice first charged him in 2012 for his involvement in the Zeus malware operation and the theft of millions of dollars using personal identification numbers, bank account numbers, credentials, and other sensitive info stolen from infected devices.
Besides that, he was also part of the Maze and EGregor groups, even when maze folded and became EGregor. We talked about some of these groups in recent memory on this or my tech podcast along this network.
However, as investigative journalist Brian Krebs reported, he evaded prosecution using his political connections, including the late son of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.
The article also says:
?Penchukov was also part of the leadership of the IcedID (aka Bokbot) malware operation after being added to the FBI’s Cyber Most Wanted List between November 2018 and February 2021.
We talked about IceID in the past and what they’re up to.
To read this full article, please Zeus, IcedID malware gangs leader pleads guilty, faces 40 years in prison. where it also talks about his pleading under the RICO ordeal.
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