An alleged Russian man accused of being the developer of the notorious TrickBot gang was arrested a the Seoul international airport.
- An alleged Russian developer of the infamous TrickBot gang was arrested while trying to leave South Korea.
- The Russian man says that he did know he worked for a cybercrime gang.
An alleged Russian man accused of being the developer of the notorious TrickBot gang was arrested a the Seoul international airport.
The man identified was arrested while trying to leave South Korea for his native home in Russia after being stuck in the Asian country for more than a year and a half.
The suspect, who arrived in February 2020, was stranded in South Korea due to COVID-19 restrictions, and his passport subsequently expired.
However, while the suspect was expecting a passport replacement, US officials launched an official investigation against TrickBot. This Russian-based malware gang had used its botnet to facilitate ransomware attacks across the US throughout 2020.
It is alleged that the man worked as a web browser developer for the TrickBot operation while he stayed in Russia in 2016.
However, the Russian man claims that he did not know he worked for a cybercrime gang after getting hired from an employment site.
“When developing the software, the operation manual did not fall under malicious software, ” the man told the Seoul High Court.
The TrickBot gang is accountable for malware, including BazaLoader, TrickBot, PowerTrick, BazaBackdoor, and Anchor.
Following the takedown, the operators behind the TrickBot malware have implemented several improvements to make it more resilient.
Prosecutors plan to extradite the Russian man to the United States, but his attorney opposed the decision.
“If you send him to the United States, it will be very difficult to exercise your right of defence, and there is a high possibility that you will be subjected to excessive punishment, ” argued the alleged TrickBot developer's attorney.
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