Alleged Blackhole author and gang prosecuted in Russia

Paunch, the creator of the infamous Blackhole exploit kit, is being prosecuted along with 12 other individuals involved in a Russia-based cybercrime ring, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has confirmed (via Google Translate).

The crime ring specialized in a “massive embezzlement of funds from the accounts of individuals and legal entities” by disseminating banking Trojans that slurped logins, passwords, electronic keys, and certificates.

According to the investigation, the malware was loaded on victims’ computer by way of the Blackhole kit, which exploited software vulnerabilities present on them.

After getting their hands on the aforementioned sensitive information, the criminals would send fraudulent payment orders on behalf of holders of bank accounts. The bank accounts to which the payments had to be delivered were set to be those belonging to members of the gang or their money mules.

What is unusual for this gang is that they seem to have targeted Russian nationals who had accounts with Russian banks all across the Federation (Moscow, Tyumen, Ulyanovsk, Krasnodar, Petrozavodsk and Kursk).

The investigators have estimated that about 70 million rubles (around $2.15 million) have been stolen by the gang.

UPDATE:

Cyber crime investigators from Moscow-based Group-IB have assisted the police in the investigation, and has revealed more details about the 27-year-old Paunch, including pictures of him.