DOJ Opens Indictment Against Russian Citizens Who Are Masterminds Of Qakbot Cyber Attack

JAKARTA - The United States (US) Department of Justice opened charges against a Russian citizen, who is accused of being the leader of a cyber group that has spread malicious software for more than a decade.

In a statement on Thursday, May 22, the Justice Department accused Rustam Rafailevich Gallyamov (48) of leading a group of cybercriminals who developed and spread Qakbots, a software used to infect computers with malware or ransomware.

The malicious software can also recruit computers to be part of a botnet, or a group of compromised and remotely controlled computers and devices, for use for other malicious purposes.

According to DOJ, the charges against Gallyamov include conspiracy and electronic fraud. He is known to continue his criminal activities even after Qakbot infrastructure was thwarted by international operations in 2023.

The DOJ also filed a request for confiscation of more than US$24 million (Rp384 billion) in the form of cryptocurrencies and traditional funds allegedly related to this crime.

On the same day, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles also opened charges against 16 people suspected of being involved in the development and deployment of the DanaBot malware.

DanaBot is a malicious software that is claimed to have infected more than 300,000 computers globally and caused a minimum loss of USD 50 million or around IDR 821 billion.

DanaBot first appeared in 2018 as a banking credential thief malware. However, over time, its ability has developed to steal wider data and open access to advanced cyber activity.