Notorious Russian ‘bot master’ could face lengthy prison sentence

The notorious hacker is due to be sentenced, after admitting charges

Federal prosecutors are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for Peter Levashov, 40, who was the brains behind networks of hijacked computers that spewed out billions of spam emails over a decade.

The notorious Russian hacker used the networks, called “botnets”, to steal computer credentials, distribute spam emails and install malicious software, reports the Associated Press.

Known internationally as the “bot master”, Mr Levashov was able to harvest scores of email addresses, logins and passwords. One of the botnets may have infected 200,000 computers.

He pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy, wire fraud, identity theft and other charges.

“Levashov used those botnets to send billions of spam messages, messages which ranged in destructive potential from relatively harmless advertisements, to email messages used to conduct ‘pump and dump’ schemes, to email messages containing malicious links that spread malware such as viruses or ransomware,” Assistant US Attorney Edward Chang told the court in a written pre-sentencing statement.

Mr Chang said Mr Levashov operated three highly powerful botnets – Storm Worm, Waledac, and Kelihos.

Storm Worm is thought to have sent 57 million email messages in a single day at one point, while Waledac could send 1.5 billion spam messages per day and Kelihos was capable of sending 4 billion messages, according to the prosecutor.

Mr Levashov has also been accused of moderating online forums used to trade stolen identities and credit card numbers.

He was arrested in April 2017 while on holiday in Spain, in an operation targeting Russian cybercriminals outside their homeland.

Mr Levashov’s lawyers, arguing for time served, said that his hacking was not complex enough to warrant a harsher sentence.

Prosecutors are asking that he is sentenced between 12 and 14.5 years in prison when he appears via teleconference before US District Judge Robert Chatigny in Connecticut on Tuesday.