From: Stateman-Journal.com
TVER, Russia – Sasha Panin called himself “Gribodemon,” and his evil works in the world of cybercrime have bedeviled millions.
Panin is a 20-something Russian computer whiz who until a few years ago lived in obscurity with his grandmother in this struggling riverside city.
Working from a Moscow apartment, federal prosecutors say, Panin developed SpyEye, one of the most destructive computer software programs ever launched in the Internet’s criminal underworld, the dark Web where hackers ply their trade.
Panin’s software tool kit, which sold for a few thousand dollars on underground websites, systematically infected more than 1.4 million computers, where it collected bank account credentials, credit card numbers, passwords and personal identification numbers.
The world’s cybercriminals – from lone hackers like Panin, who supply the software tools, to elaborate, multilevel crime syndicates that steal billions of dollars every year – wreak havoc on computer systems: Witness the data heists that struck Target and Neiman Marcus during the holiday shopping season last year.
An examination of Panin’s case, his lifestyle, his eccentric ambitions and his ultimate capture by U.S. authorities reveals how youthful hackers hiding behind anonymous screen names in unlikely corners of the world can use their personal computers and programming skills to create malicious software, called malware, with the power to penetrate computers at multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments – and steal your credit card numbers or even your identity.
The threat from hackers for hire, state-sponsored cyber intrusions and organized cyber syndicates is so dire that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lists cybersecurity as the greatest global threat, edging out terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
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