By Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger Computer hacker Dimitriy Smilianets, charged in one of the largest data breach schemes ever uncovered in the United States, pleaded not guilty today as he faced arraignment before a federal judge in Newark. Smilianets, 29, of Moscow, has been in custody for more than a year after he was extradited from the Netherlands in a case that did not become public until July. He continues to be held without bail. According to federal prosecutors, Smilianets was part of a ring that penetrated computer networks of more than a dozen major American and international corporations over seven years, stealing and selling at least 160 million credit and debit card numbers. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, who called the case the largest hacking and data breach scheme ever prosecuted in the United States, said the losses amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars. The ring breached the computer networks of at least 17 major retailers, financial institutions and payment processors, including Princeton-based Heartland Payment Systems Inc., which processes credit and debit cards for small to mid-sized businesses. Smilianets is the only one of the five men charged in the high-profile case currently in U.S. custody. He was arrested last year while vacationing in the Netherlands and extradited without fanfare to the United States. Arrested with him was Vladimir Drinkman, 32, of Syktyvkar, Russia, who remains in the Netherlands fighting efforts to extradite him. Three others, Aleksander Kalinin, 26, of St. Petersburg, Russia; Roman Kotov, 32, of Moscow; and Mikhail Rytikov, 26, of Odessa, Ukraine, were also charged, but their whereabouts remain unknown, officials said. The investigation grew out of a related 2009 New Jersey case that resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for Albert Gonzalez of Miami, who is identified in the complaint against Smilianets as an unindicted co-conspirator. According to the indictment, the ring was accused of uploading "malware" into the computer systems of their targets, then using those programs to gradually obtain personal information they sold around the world, enabling access to the compromised accounts. If convicted on all counts, four of the defendants named in the indictment would face up to 70 years in prison, authorities said, while the other would face as much as 35 years. Smilianets’ next appearance won’t be until Dec. 2, for a status conference before U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle in Camden. ______________________________________________ #nj #Russian_Hacker #Hacker #Smilianets #malware nj/news/index.ssf/2013/08/russian_hacker_pleads_not_guilty_denied_bail_in_massive_data_breach_case.html
Posted on: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 00:41:45 +0000
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