This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A Ukrainian national has been extradited to the United States, where he faces charges of hacking and stealing computer passwords, the U.S. Justice Department said on September 8.
Glib Ivanov-Tolpintsev, 28, is suspected of hacking into tens of thousands of computers to steal passwords that he later sold to criminals on the dark web.
The Ukrainian national was arrested in Poland in October 2020 and transferred to the United States under an extradition treaty between the two countries.
He faces charges of conspiracy, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, and trafficking in computer passwords that could land him in prison for up to 17 years.
According to the indictment, Ivanov-Tolpintsev operated a botnet, a network of computers infected with malware and controlled without the owners’ knowledge.
“He used the botnet to conduct brute-force attacks designed to decrypt numerous computer login credentials simultaneously,” the Justice Department said.
During his activities, Ivanov-Tolpintsev claimed the botnet was capable of decrypting the passwords of at least 2,000 computers every week.
Once the login credentials were sold on a dark web website, the passwords were used to conduct illegal activity, including tax fraud and ransomware attacks, according to the indictment.
