Bulletproof hosting service operator behind Gozi malware distributed sentenced

BleepingComputer reports that the U.S. has sentenced Romanian national Mihai IonutPaunescu, also known as Virus, to three years imprisonment for operating the bulletproof hosting service that enabled the deployment of the Gozi, or Ursnif, malware, along with the BlackEnergy, SpyEye, and Zeus backdoors. More than a million computers around the world have been compromised with the Gozi malware, at least 40,000 of which were in the U.S., according to the Department of Justice. The Justice Department also noted that aside from engaging in malware distribution, Paunescu's service also facilitated distributed denial-of-service attacks and spam message deployment around the world. "By allowing cybercriminals to acquire online infrastructure for their unlawful activity without revealing their true identities, Paunescu's bulletproof hosting service shielded his criminal customers from both law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals while enriching himself. Paunescu now faces prison time and will be required to forfeit his ill-gotten gains," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams.