Ukrainian nationwide Mark Sokolovsky has pleaded responsible to his involvement within the Raccoon Stealer malware cybercrime operation.
Sokolovsky and his conspirators distributed Raccoon Stealer underneath a MaaS (malware-as-a-service) mannequin, permitting menace actors to hire it for $75 per week or $200 month-to-month.
The malware steals a variety of knowledge from contaminated units, together with saved browser credentials and data, cryptocurrency wallets, bank card particulars, e-mail information, and different kinds of delicate information from dozens of purposes.
Raccoon Stealer subscribers would additionally obtain entry to an admin panel that enabled them to customise the malware, retrieve stolen information (logs), and create new malware builds.
In line with the unsealed indictment, Sokolovsky (additionally identified on-line as raccoon-stealer, Photix, and black21jack77777) was arrested in March 2022 within the Netherlands.
On the identical time, the FBI dismantled Raccoon Infostealer’s infrastructure in a joint motion with regulation enforcement authorities within the Netherlands and Italy, additionally taking the malware offline.
Across the time of Sokolovsky’s arrest, the Raccoon Stealer cybercrime gang suspended operations, claiming that one of many lead builders had been killed through the invasion of Ukraine. Since then, the operation has been relaunched two instances, with new variations that includes new information theft capabilities.
After taking down the malware’s infrastructure in March 2022, the FBI collected a number of the information stolen by cybercriminals utilizing the malware and created an internet site that helps anybody test if their information is within the U.S. authorities’s archive of Raccoon Infostealer stolen data.
These whose information was stolen will obtain a affirmation e-mail with further data, sources, and hyperlinks on the handle they offered when looking the U.S. authorities’s Raccoon Infostealer Disclosure portal.
Sokolovsky was extradited to america in February 2024 after being indicted on fraud, cash laundering, and aggravated id theft expenses in October 2022.
“While an exact number has yet to be verified, FBI agents have identified more than 50 million unique credentials and forms of identification (email addresses, bank accounts, cryptocurrency addresses, credit card numbers, etc.) in the stolen data from what appears to be millions of potential victims around the world,” the Division of Justice stated in a press launch on the time.
“The credentials appear to include over four million email addresses. The United States does not believe it is in possession of all the data stolen by Raccoon Infostealer and continues to investigate.”
As a part of his plea settlement, Sokolovsky has agreed to a restitution of no less than $910,844.61 and a forfeiture cash judgment of $23,975.
