US indicts ‘Evil Corp’ with alleged Russian intelligence ties

A Lamborghini-driving Moscow hacker who called his operation Evil Corp and allegedly has ties to the Russian FSB intelligence service was indicted by US authorities Thursday for the cybertheft of tens of millions of dollars.

An indictment unsealed in Pittsburgh named Maksim Yakubets and his Evil Corp partner Igor Turashev as the main figures in a group which inserted malware on computers in dozens of countries to steal more than $100 million from companies and local authorities.

The indictment was accompanied by sanctions from the US Treasury on the two men, as well as the announcement of a $5 million reward toward Yakubets’ arrest and conviction -- the highest reward ever offered for a cybercriminal.

“Maksim Yakubets allegedly has engaged in a decade-long cybercrime spree that deployed two of the most damaging pieces of financial malware ever used and resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses to victims worldwide,” said US Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski.

The Treasury said Yakubets specifically worked for the FSB intelligence agency “as of 2017” and was “tasked to work on projects for the Russian state.”