Russian Indicted in Kelihos Botnet Case

BRIDGEPORT, CT — A federal grand jury in Bridgeport returned an eight-count indictment against a Russian national who is accused of operating the Kelihos Botnet. The network of infected computers was used in several criminal schemes, including attempted manipulation of stock market prices, according to the indictment.

Peter Yuryevich Levashov, 36, of St. Petersburg, Russia was arrested in Barcelona on April 7 and U.S. authorities are seeking extradition so he can face criminal charges.

Kelihos Botnet was used to send hundreds of millions of fraudulent emails per year, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco.(Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

"Our success in disrupting the Kelihos botnet was the result of strong cooperation between private industry experts and law enforcement, and the use of innovative legal and technical tactics," Blanco said.

Levashov controlled a network of infected computers and harvested personal information from victims, according to the indictment. He also distributed malware that included banking Trojans and ransomware and advertised use of of the botnet to enrich himself.

The botnet spanned the glob and included tens of thousands of infected computers, according to the Justice Department. The department announced earlier this month that it took steps to disrupt and dismantle the network.

The Kelihos Botnet was used for various criminal schemes, including promoting stocks to inflate their prices in what is known as a "pump and dump" scheme, the indictment alleges.

Levashov charged various sums of money for mass email messages, according to the indictment. He said he would charge $1,000 for 3 million emails to one potential client. In another message he said he accepted bitcoin as payment and would charge $300 per 1 million emails, but more for phishing and scams.

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