Dunaev Vladimir

Dunaev Vladimir

Biography

2021: Extradition to the United States

South Korea extradited to the United States a Russian hacker from Yakutia, Vladimir Dunaev, who is accused of global cyber attacks. The US Department of Justice announced this at the end of October 2021.

The press release said that the 38-year-old Russian citizen appeared in federal court after extradition to the Northern District of Ohio on charges of activities as part of a transnational cybercriminal group. Dunaev is accused of creating the Trickbot extortion software package. According to the US Department of Justice, this program infected millions of computers around the world. From November 2015 until August 2020, Dunaev and others stole money, confidential information and damaged computer systems, the ministry said.

Vladimir Dunaev was detained by the South Korean prosecutor's office in Seoul. This happened on May 25, 2021 after the US Department of Justice passed information about the hacker to its South Korean colleagues.

South Korea has notified the Russian side of the detention of a Russian suspected of cyber fraud in the United States, the Russian Embassy in Seoul told RIA Novosti. As the embassy missions clarified, the Russian was extradited to Atlanta, Georgia, on October 15, 2021.

Further assistance to the Russian citizen and contacts with American law enforcement agencies will continue in the United States, he added.

The Trickbot virus stole data from bank account systems from the victims' mobile devices. This software was first discovered in 2016, it was used by several criminal groups, including REvil. According to experts, the attackers managed to steal from tens to hundreds of millions of dollars from US authorities, banks and companies using Trickbot. Hackers have managed to infect malware with more than 1 million devices around the world.^{[1] [2]}

2023: Guilty plea for Trickbot virus spread

November 30, 2023 United States Department of Justice reported that Russian Vladimir Dunaev pleaded guilty to the development and distribution of malicious software Trickbot. This, malware according to the investigation, was used for cyber attacks American hospitals, educational institutions and other organizations.

According to the case file, 40-year-old Dunaev was one of the developers of malicious tools for the Trickbot cybercriminal network. He, according to documents from the US Department of Justice, created specially modified versions of browsers and other programs that were used to steal personal data from infected computers. In addition, Dunaev allegedly developed tools that make it difficult to detect malicious code.

Vladimir Dunaev admitted to creating the Trickbot virus

The investigation found that ransomware was distributed through the Trickbot network. The victims of the attackers, as noted, were millions of users and organizations, and the total damage is estimated at "tens of millions of dollars."

Dunaev was detained in 2021 in South Korea, and in October of the same year he was extradited to the United States. The man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud and identity theft, as well as conspiracy to carry out bank fraud and fraud using electronic means of communication. Dunaev faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison on both counts.

It is also said that in June 2023, one of Dunaev's accomplices, a citizen, Latvia Alla Witte pleaded guilty to committing cybercrimes and was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison. Several more alleged members of the Trickbot network are involved in the case.^[3]

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