Year: 2018
Court filings and enforcement actions initiated or unsealed during calendar year 2018.
Key Facts
- 8 major cases opened or unsealed in 2018.
- Cumulative losses identified for 2018 matters exceed $3.2 billion.
- Documented from federal indictments and official government disclosures.
Documented Matters for 2018
U.S. v. Hladyr, Kolpakov & Iarmak (FIN7 Cybercrime Syndicate)
Prosecution of senior leaders of the FIN7 transnational cybercrime syndicate who hacked into thousands of computer systems across the United States, stealing more than 20 million customer credit card records from restaurants and hospitality chains.
U.S. v. Park Jin Hyok (Lazarus Group / Chosun Expo)
Department of Justice charges North Korean state-sponsored programmer with the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, the 2017 global WannaCry ransomware outbreak, and the $81 million Bangladesh Bank cyber heist.
U.S. v. Netyksho et al. (APT28 / GRU Unit 26165 DNC Hack)
Twelve Russian GRU military intelligence officers charged with hacking into the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton presidential campaign servers, exfiltrating emails, and orchestrating strategic leaks via DCLeaks and Guccifer 2.0.
U.S. v. Sergey Medvedev et al. (Infraud Organization)
Global cybercrime enterprise operating under the slogan 'In Fraud We Trust' with over 10,000 members, trafficking in stolen identities, counterfeit documents, compromised credit cards, and banking trojans.
U.S. v. Tyler Barriss (Serial Swatting / Wichita Incident)
Perpetrator of dozens of fraudulent emergency 911 calls and bomb threats across the United States for hire, culminating in a fatal police shooting in Wichita, Kansas, over a Call of Duty video game dispute.
U.S. v. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova (Project Lakhta)
Russian chief accountant charged with managing the financial administration of Project Lakhta, a massive state-funded covert influence and cyber operation designed to sow political discord in U.S. elections.
Marriott Starwood 383 Million Guest Reservation Breach
State-sponsored cyber espionage operators maintained undetected access to the Starwood guest reservation database for four years, deploying remote access trojans and memory scrapers to exfiltrate unencrypted passport numbers, payment cards, and travel itineraries.
U.S. v. Aleksandr Zhukov (Methbot Digital Ad Fraud Scheme)
Russian national and self-styled 'King of Fraud' Aleksandr Zhukov convicted after federal trial in Brooklyn and sentenced to 10 years in prison for running Methbot, a massive botnet and server farm that spoofed billions of digital video ad impressions, looting $36 million from American digital advertising networks.