Using the Carberp trojan, cybercriminals from the Ukraine and Russia have stolen more than 8 billion roubles (approximately £169 million) from bank accounts, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), an intelligence and counter-terrorism agency. The agency says that the criminals had stolen the money from a number of corporate bank accounts.

Sberbank, the Russian bank targeted by the criminals, said that the attackers had used trojans belonging to the Carberp family which they had adapted for their own needs and also sold to other criminal groups. Carberp is currently classed as one of the fastest developing and most dangerous trojans in the wild.

According to the Ukrainian and Russian security services, 20 suspects were arrested. The SBU announced that 16 of those arrested are Ukrainian citizens. The group was investigated after several companies had discovered that their accounts had been emptied without their knowledge. According to the investigators, the group was led by a 28-year-old Russian man living in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. The group has stolen around 8 billion roubles and 3 million Ukrainian hryvnia (approximately £240,000) in total. The hackers are expected to get jail sentences of six years each.

The arrests come after another group of eight individuals had been arrested in Russia a few weeks ago, having stolen £2.8 million with the Carberp trojan. It is not currently known if the two groups were connected.