Year: 2014
Court filings and enforcement actions initiated or unsealed during calendar year 2014.
Key Facts
- 8 major cases opened or unsealed in 2014.
- Cumulative losses identified for 2014 matters exceed $1.5 billion.
- Documented from federal indictments and official government disclosures.
Documented Matters for 2014
U.S. v. Sun Kailiang et al. (PLA Unit 61398 / APT1)
Historic first-ever criminal indictment against state military actors: five Chinese military officers in People's Liberation Army Unit 61398 charged with cyber espionage against Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, Alcoa, and the United Steelworkers union.
U.S. v. Ross Ulbricht (Dread Pirate Roberts / Silk Road)
Historic trial and life sentencing of Ross William Ulbricht, creator and operator of Silk Road, the internet's first comprehensive darknet market using Tor and Bitcoin.
Target Corporation Point-of-Sale Data Breach (Fazio Mechanical Ingress)
Landmark retail cyberattack where attackers penetrated Target internal corporate networks using stolen billing portal credentials from a third-party refrigeration and HVAC vendor, subsequently deploying BlackPOS memory scraping malware to steal 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million customer records.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Destructive Wiper Attack
North Korean state-sponsored operators infiltrated Sony Pictures Entertainment, deploying destructive Shamoon/Destover wipers that permanently erased thousands of servers and workstations, exfiltrating terabytes of unreleased films, employee SSNs, and executive emails.
U.S. v. Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev (GameOver Zeus & CryptoLocker)
Federal indictment of Russian syndicate leader Evgeniy Bogachev for operating GameOver Zeus, a peer-to-peer banking trojan, and CryptoLocker, the first mass-market cryptoviral ransomware, stealing over $100 million with an unprecedented $3 million FBI Rewards for Justice bounty.
Neiman Marcus 1.1 Million Payment Card In-Memory Scraping
Sophisticated memory-scraping malware intrusion into point-of-sale systems across 77 Neiman Marcus luxury department stores, capturing payment card Track 2 data in memory over a four-month stealth campaign, resolved through a multi-state Attorney General consent decree.
Home Depot 56 Million Payment Card Breach (BlackPOS Malware)
Historic retail network compromise wherein cybercriminals used stolen third-party HVAC vendor credentials to penetrate Home Depot corporate intranet, deploying custom BlackPOS memory-scraping malware across 2,200 store checkout terminals and exfiltrating 56 million credit and debit card records.
U.S. v. Mark Vartanyan (Citadel Banking Trojan Distribution)
Russian crimeware developer known as 'Kolypto' extradited from Norway and sentenced to five years in federal prison for developing, updating, and supporting Citadel, an advanced Zeus-based banking trojan that infected over 11 million computers worldwide and inflicted over $500 million in commercial financial losses.