Incident for Pavel Tsurkan 2021-07-21

First Name Pavel
Other Name
Last Name Tsurkan
Alias Russian2015
DOB Unknown
Age 33
Gender male
Location EE
Location
Information According to court documents, Pavel Tsurkan, 33, operated a criminal proxy botnet by remotely accessing and compromising more than 1,000 computer devices and internet routers worldwide, including at least 60 victims in Alaska. He used the victims’ devices to build and operate an Internet of Things (IoT)-based botnet dubbed the “Russian2015” using the domain Russian2015.ru. He modified the operation of each compromised internet router so it could be used as a proxy to transmit third-party internet traffic without the owners’ knowledge or consent. He then sold access to global cybercriminals who channeled their traffic through the victims’ home routers, using the victims’ devices to engage in spam campaigns and other criminal activity. The Alaska victims experienced significant data overages even when there were no home computers connected to the victims’ home networks. The data overages resulted in hundreds to thousands of dollars per victim.
Pending Outcome No
Damages Costs Unknown
Date Of Crime Unknown
Crime(s) Botnet
Charge(s) computer fraud and abuse
Authorities FBI
Authorities Statement view
Prosecutors Adam Alexander Alden Pelker
Plea Yes
Plea Date 2021-07-21
Plea Info guilty