SpyEye purveyors get prison time in the U.K.

Three men who used the SpyEye trojan to break into online bank accounts have been sentenced to prison in the U.K. Pavel Cyganok and Ilja Zakrevski of Lithuania and Estonia, respectively, were sentenced to nine years after using malware to steal banking information from victims, the U.K's Central eCrime Unit said Friday. They pleaded guilty May 24 to offenses under the Computer Misuse Act and Proceeds of Crime Act. Another man, Aldis Krummins of Latvia was sentenced to two years for money laundering related to the attacks. The men managed to loot approximately $155,000 from victim bank accounts, authorites said. The stolen money was used to fund and expand their operations and buy additional IT equipment, as well as to purchase luxury items which were then resold on auction sites.