Evil Corp: On December 5th the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed criminal charges against two Russian citizens for the roles they have played in the international cyber-crime group known as “Evil Corp”. The charges were filed against Maksim Yakubets and Igor Turashev, who are alleged to be the group’s leader and an administrator respectively. It is also believed that Mr. Yakubets has worked with Russian intelligence. The group has stolen $100 million (USD) through the operation of Dridex, which is banking malware also known as Cridex or Bugat. While Evil Corp is well known as a group of cyber-criminals it is alleged that they have also assisted the Russian government on multiple occasions.
Analyst Notes
A $5 million (USD) reward is currently being offered by the DOJ and US State Department for information leading to the arrest of Yakubets. This is the largest reward to be offered up for a cyber-criminal, which is likely in response to the significant amount of financial damage done by Evil Corp and the Dridex malware. In cases like this it is typically a lengthy period of time between an indictment being unsealed and an arrest. The large reward may motivate more people to turn over information to law enforcement. More information in this can be found at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50677512, and the Indictment from the DOJ can be found at https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/russian-national-charged-decade-long-series-hacking-and-bank-fraud-offenses-resulting-tens
