The Most Wanted Cybercriminal in the World: GameOver ZeuS, Cryptolocker, and the Rise of Ransomware
The MIT Press eBooks · 2018
When it comes to using computers to steal money, not even Albert Gonzalez with his buried barrel of cash has come close to matching the success of Russian hacker Evgeniy Bogachev. The $3 million bounty the FBI has offered for Bogachev's capture is larger than any that has ever been offered for a cybercriminal—but that sum represents only a tiny fraction of the money he has stolen through his botnet GameOver ZeuS. 1 At its height in 2012 and 2013, GameOver ZeuS, or GOZ, comprised between 500,000 and one million compromised computers all over the world that Bogachev could control remotely. For years, Bogachev used these machines to spread malware that allowed him to steal banking credentials and perpetrate online extortion. 2 No one knows exactly how much money Bogachev stole from his thousands of victims using GOZ, but the FBI conservatively estimates that it was well over $100 million. 3 Meanwhile, Bogachev has spent lavishly on a fleet of luxury cars, two French villas, and—showing a kinship of sorts with Gonzalez—a large yacht. 4