Russian Arrested After Offering $1 Million to U.S. Company Employee for Planting Malware

The FBI has arrested a Russian national who recently traveled to
the United States and offered $1 million in bribe to an employee of
a targeted company for his help in installing malware into the
company’s computer network manually.

Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27-year-old, entered the United
States as a tourist and was arrested in Los Angeles after meeting
with the unnamed employee of an undisclosed Nevada-based company
numerous times, between August 1 to August 21, to discuss the
conspiracy.

“On or about July 28, EGOR IGOREVICH KRIUCHKOV entered the
United States using his Russian Passport and a B1/B2 tourist
visa.”

Kriuchkov also asked the employee to participate in developing
tailored malware by sharing information about the company’s
infrastructure.

Kriuchkov and his co-conspirators in Russia promised the
employee to pay $1 million in Bitcoins after successfully planting
the said malware and offered to launch a DDoS attack on the
company’s network to divert attention from the malware.

“If CHS1 [employee] agreed to this arrangement, the group would
provide the malware to CHS1 [employee] in either a thumb drive to
be inserted into a computer’s USB drive or an email with an
attachment containing malware.”

“The unidentified co-conspirator discussed various means by which
to pay the employee, including payments using cryptocurrency, a
guarantor security deposit, or cash.”

“After being contacted by the FBI, Kriuchkov drove overnight
from Reno, Nevada, to Los Angeles. Kriuchkov asked an acquaintance
to purchase an airline ticket for him in an attempt to fly out of
the country,” the United States
agencies^[2] say.

After getting arrested by the FBI, who was conducting physical
surveillance of Kriuchkov and his meetings, he listed prior
companies the gang had targeted and also revealed that each of
these targeted companies had a person working at those companies
who installed malware on behalf of the gang.

To be noted, it’s quite possible that a few high-profile
ransomware and data breach attacks might have been executing in the
same way by conspiring with the insiders.

Kriuchkov has been charged with one count of conspiracy to cause
damage to a protected computer intentionally.