Hacker From Estonia Sentenced in US
Estonian citizen Sergei Tshurikov, 30, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for cycbercrime, which involved stealing over 7.4 million euros from a credit card processor, the FBI has announced.
“A leader of one of the most sophisticated cybercrime rings in the world has been brought to justice and sentenced,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
According to the prosecution, Tshurikov and others obtained unauthorized access into the computer network RBS WorldPay in November 2008. The group used sophisticated hacking techniques to compromise the data encryption used to protect customer data on payroll debit cards.
The international organized-crime group then withdrew millions from 2,100 ATMs in 280 cities around the world within less than 12 hours, using 44 fraudulent debit cards.
The people making the end withdrawals were allowed to keep 30 to 50 percent of the stolen funds, but transmitted the bulk of the money back to Tshurikov and his co-defendants.
Tshurikov and accomplices were arrested on May 6, 2009 after cooperation between Estonian and US authorities. He was extradited to the US in 2010.
Tshurikov was sentenced by United States District Judge Steve Jones to eleven years, three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution. He pleaded guilty to the charges on September 11, 2012.