UPDATED 23:12 EDT / APRIL 23 2017

INFRA

Russian man receives record sentence for credit card hacking

The son of a Russian lawmaker who was convicted in August on 38 counts related to his hacking of point-of-sale computers to steal and sell credit card numbers on the darknet has received a record sentence for his crimes.

Thirty-two-year-old Roman Valerevich Seleznev (pictured), the son of Valery Seleznev, a member of the Russian Parliament, was sentenced to 27 years in prison, the longest sentence ever in the United States related to hacking charges, according to The New York Times. He was convicted on 10 counts of wire fraud, eight counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, nine counts of obtaining information from a protected computer, nine counts of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Seleznev, who used the alias “Track2” hacked into retail point-of-sale systems and installed malware to steal credit card numbers from various businesses from October 2009 and October 2013, resulting in more than $169 million in fraud losses from the theft and sale of more than 2.9 million credit-card numbers. Seleznev primarily targeted businesses in Washington State, including a restaurant called Broadway Grill, which was forced into bankruptcy following the theft.

When handing down the sentence on Friday, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones expressed skepticism about Seleznev’s attempts to obtain a lighter sentence. They included a letter to the court in which he apologized and asked for mercy. “He made no statement expressing culpability and remorse until after the conviction,” the judge noted. “The court finds the timing of that letter does not meet this court’s expectations.”

Despite asking for a 30-year sentence, the Department of Justice nonetheless welcomed the 27 years handed to Seleznev. U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said in a statement that the sentence was a bad day for hackers around the world and that “the notion that the Internet is a Wild West where anything goes is a thing of the past.”

“As Mr. Seleznev has now learned, and others should take note—we are working closely with our law enforcement partners around the world to find, apprehend, and bring to justice those who use the Internet to steal and destroy our peace of mind,” Hayes added.

For Seleznev, the 27 years may not be the end of the matter, because he is still facing hacking-related charges in Nevada and Georgia. The Times noted that it’s not clear whether the sentence in Washington will satisfy the prosecutors in those cases.

Photo: Department of Justice

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU