Lawmakers Probe Early Release of Top RU Cybercrook
Summary: Aleksei Burkov, who ran the carding site CardPlanet that sold more than 150,000 stolen credit card accounts and co-founded the DirectConnection forum, was arrested in Israel in December 2015, extradited to the U.S. in November 2019, and sentenced in June 2020 to nine years in prison. He was released and deported to Moscow on Aug. 25, 2021, and four Republican House committee ranking members have now sent a letter to National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan asking why he was freed early and whether the U.S. received anything in return.
Key Takeaway: Burkov was a co-administrator of Mazafaka and a founder of DirectConnection, forums whose member rosters Krebs describes as a who's who of the Russian hacker underground, and sealed pleadings entered in his court record in June and August 2021 remain hidden from public view. The lawmakers' letter also asks for a list of every Russian national convicted in the U.S. and released early since Biden took office, which puts the terms of any such arrangement on the record.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
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