Sergey Vovnenko, a Ukrainian hacker, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a U.S. district court in New Jersey.

Vovnenko used various aliases, including Darklife, Firecracker and Centurion. He was extradited from Italy after a long court battle to face the charges, which stem from an international scheme to steal credit card data and log-in credentials.

According to a report by Reuter, the 29 year old hacker marshaled 13,000 malware-infected computers to build a botnet used to steal banking information and capture victims' keystrokes. His hacking activity took place between September 2010 and August 2012.

Vovnenko was so bold as to send security researcher Brian Krebs heroin in an attempt to frame him.

Vovnenko will be sentenced in court May 2 where he could receive a minimum sentence of two years.

Source: SCMagazine