A U.S. man was sentenced to 69 months on criminal hacking charges related to a data-stealing malware operation.
Vitali Antonenko, 32, will spend the better part of the next six years as a guest of the federal government thanks to convictions for conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, trafficking in stolen payment card numbers and money laundering.
A federal court in Boston found that Antoneko, at the time a resident of New York state, ran a ring that stole and resold personal information.
It was said that Antonenko and his unnamed co-conspirators would infect sites with malware that collected personal identification information (PII) and bank account data.
“Antonenko and co-conspirators scoured the internet for computer networks with security vulnerabilities that were likely to contain credit and debit card account numbers, expiration dates, and card verification values (Payment Card Data) and other personally identifiable information (PII).
“They used a hacking technique known as a 'SQL injection attack' to access those networks without authorization, extracted payment card data and other PII, and transferred it for sale on online criminal marketplaces.”
The data would then be sold on darknet sites to fraudsters who would then use it for further criminal activities
While the term “allegedly” is used for legal purposes, the facts of the case are pretty cut and dry. In September of this year Antonenko copped a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computer networks and to traffic in unauthorized access devices, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
It is said that Antonenko’s role was to move the stolen funds. Once another hacker lifted and sold the information, he was tasked with converting it into cryptocurrency and getting the actual cash into the bank accounts of fraudsters.
Unfortunately for Antonenko, he ran afoul of the law when he stole from a pair of organizations in the Massachusetts district, a non-profit organization and a hospitality business, neither of which were named.
This led investigators to his hacking outfit’s tracks and his eventual arrest and conviction.
He faces imprisonment until the year 2029.
