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US courts hand Russian hacker record 27-year sentence

Published on: 24 Apr 2017

A Russian hacker who hit around 4,200 US businesses and organisations to the tune of $169 million (£132 million) has been sentenced to 27 years in prison - the toughest ever dealt by a North American court in relation to cyber crime.

Roman Valeryevich Seleznev, 32, stole payment card details via malware installed at retail point-of-sale systems before selling on the data to the criminal underworld.

More than 500 American businesses and 3,700 financial institutions are believed to have fallen victim to malware planted by Mr Seleznev, who used the online handle ‘Track2’.

One business - the Broadway Grill in Seattle - was forced into bankruptcy as a result of the Russian’s actions, and there was the possibility that he could have received a life sentence, so extreme was the scale of his cyber attacks.

In a bid to limit his time behind bars, Mr Seleznev presented a 11-page handwritten apology to the court, admitting his guilt.

US attorney Annette L Hayes said the sentence represented “a bad day for hackers around the world”.

She commented: “The notion that the internet is a Wild West where anything goes is a thing of the past.

“Whether the victims are multinational banks or small pizza joints, we are all victims when our day-to-day transactions result in millions of dollars ending up in the wrong hands.”