Feds tracked down Russian spam kingpin with help from his iCloud account


An affidavit unsealed today shows Apple’s unexpected role in bringing a Russian spam king to justice. Once listed as one of the ten worst spammers in the world, Peter Levashov allegedly ran the Kelihos botnet under the alias “Severa,” renting out access to spammers and other cybercriminals. But despite Levashov’s significant efforts at anonymity, court records show that federal agents had been surveilling his iCloud account since May 20th, 2016, funneling back crucial information that may have led to his arrest.

The affidavit (embedded below) lays out Severa’s role in administering the Kelihos spam botnet, and how server records, Jabber messages and online payments led investigators to Levashov. Two Kelihos-linked servers seized in...

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via The Verge - Tech Posts "http://ift.tt/2saPMV0"

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