Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, a Russian hacker, operated between October 2009 and October 2013 installing POS malware on retail systems.

His malware was capable of stealing payment card details, which he sold on the dark web. His main focus was small businesses and he was so effective that he forced one such business into bankruptcy.

In all, Seleznev compromised more than 500 American businesses and 3,700 financial institutions. Trial evidence showed that the stolen credit card data was sent to servers that he had control of in Russia, the Ukraine and Virginia.

The 3,700 financial institutions that were compromised cost them a total of $169 million. When his computer was examined, authorities found it contained 1.7 million stolen credit card details.

Seleznev was sentenced to an unprecedented 27 years. The prosecutor had this to say:

“Simply put, Roman Seleznev has harmed more victims and caused more financial loss than perhaps any other defendant that has appeared before the court. This prosecution is unprecedented.”

Kenneth Blanco, Acting Assistant Attorney General, sent out a warning to other cybercriminals:

“This investigation, conviction and sentence demonstrates that the United States will bring the full force of the American justice system upon cybercriminals like Seleznev who victimize U.S. citizens and companies from afar. And we will not tolerate the existence of safe havens for these crimes – we will identify cybercriminals from the dark corners of the Internet and bring them to justice.”

Russian parliamentarian Valery Seleznev, Romans father, felt that he was “abducted” to face trial in the United States.

Source: We Live Security