In a significant operation targeting international cybercrime, four individuals have been arrested, including three Russian nationals and a Kazakhstani citizen. The arrests were confirmed following a recently unsealed domain seizure warrant and indictment.
The arrested suspects—Alexey Viktorovich Chertkov, Kirill Vladimirovich Morozov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Shishkin, and Dmitriy Rubtsov—are facing multiple charges, including conspiracy and damage to protected computers. Their involvement relates to the operation of botnet services known as Anyproxy and 5socks, which exploited malware to compromise wireless routers globally.
According to the indictment, the accused allegedly installed malware on outdated wireless Internet routers without the victims’ knowledge. This negligence permitted unauthorized reconfiguration and access by the hackers, essentially turning the compromised routers into proxy servers listed for sale on Anyproxy.net and 5socks.net.
The scale of the operation is alarming, with reports indicating that more than 7,000 proxies were sold on 5socks.net, generating upwards of $46 million since its inception in 2004. The revenue was derived from monthly subscriptions priced between $9.95 and $110. In a swift response, the FBI has seized the two domain names associated with the botnet, while international law enforcement has collaborated to dismantle its infrastructure.