James Delahunty
7 May 2013 13:34
An Algerian man accused of developing, marketing, distributing and controlling the SpyEye malware has been extradited to the United States.
Hamza Bendelladj - who went by the handle Bx1 - has been charged with one count of conspiring to commit wire and bank fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit computer fraud and 11 counts of computer fraud.
Bendelladj was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand, while he was in transit from Malaysia to Egypt in January. He was extradited from Thailand to the United States on May 2, 2013.
"Hamza Bendelladj has been extradited to the United States to face charges of controlling and selling a nefarious computer virus designed to pry into computers and extract personal financial information," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Raman.
"The indictment charges Bendelladj and his co-conspirators with operating servers designed to control the personal computers of unsuspecting individuals and aggressively marketing their virus to other international cybercriminals intent on stealing sensitive information. The extradition of Bendelladj to face charges in the United States demonstrates our steadfast determination to bring cybercriminals to justice, no matter where they operate."
The SpyEye virus is malicious computer code or "malware," which is designed to automate the theft of confidential personal and financial information, such as online banking credentials, credit card information, usernames, passwords, PINs and other personally identifying information.
One of the files on Bendelladj's C&C server in the Northern District of Georgia allegedly contained information from approximately 253 unique financial institutions.
If convicted, Bendelladj faces a maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud; up to 20 years for each wire fraud count; up to five years for conspiracy to commit computer fraud; up to five or 10 years for each count of computer fraud; and fines of up to $14 million dollars.