A rare interview with a top cyber criminal sheds light on the evolution and inner workings of prolific hacking groups that have left a trail of destruction and countless victims across the globe. Vyacheslav Penchukov explains that foreign hackers never think of their victims, believing that American targets can afford the losses they suffer at the hands of cyber crooks.
BBC News reports that Vyacheslav Penchukov, better known by his hacker alias “Tank,” spent nearly a decade on the FBI’s Most Wanted list as a leader of two notorious cyber crime gangs before his dramatic arrest in Switzerland in 2022. Now serving a 9-year prison sentence in Colorado, the 39-year-old Ukrainian spoke out for the first time in an interview, revealing never-before-known details about the criminal underworld he thrived in for years.
Penchukov’s cyber crime journey charts the evolution of modern hacking — from quick bank account thefts in the late 2000s to today’s massive ransomware attacks on corporations, charities and even hospitals. As leader of the “Jabber Zeus” crew, named for their use of the revolutionary Zeus malware, Penchukov and a small group of hackers, including the notorious Russian Maksim Yakubets, would work full-time days out of an office in Donetsk, Ukraine, stealing money from victims overseas. Cyber crime was “easy money” then, Penchukov says, as banks struggled to stop it and law enforcement couldn’t keep up. The crew’s young hackers lived large off the illegal profits, with Penchukov himself buying “new cars like they were new clothes.”
But the net began closing in as police eavesdropped on the gang’s chats and uncovered Penchukov’s identity. Though he initially evaded capture, laying low after a dramatic car chase, Penchukov soon found himself on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Undeterred, he rebuilt his hacking empire, becoming a top member of ransomware gangs like Maze, Egregor and Conti that crippled computer systems and extorted massive payouts.
As leader of the IcedID gang, Penchukov infected over 150,000 computers with malware, leading to attacks like the devastating 2020 ransomware hit on the University of Vermont Medical Center. The attack disabled 5,000 hospital computers, disrupted patient care for weeks and caused over $30 million in losses. But Penchukov was unmoved by the human toll, shrugging off rumors of a medical facility paying a $20 million ransom by saying fellow hackers “don’t care about the medical side of things — all they see is 20 million being paid.”
This callous attitude permeated Penchukov’s criminal career. He says he never thought of his victims, viewing Western targets as able to afford the losses. But for small businesses like Lieber’s Luggage in New Mexico, the $12,000 stolen by Jabber Zeus in one swipe was devastating. “It was just disbelief and horror,” recalls owner Leslee. “We had all of those feelings, the anger, the frustration, the fear.”
Penchukov’s only regrets seem to be becoming too trusting of fellow hackers, which led to his capture, and hitting a charity for disabled children with ransomware. He believes his 9-year sentence is excessive, hoping for early release. But for his countless victims around the world who lost millions, no punishment would be enough for the man who so callously upended their lives and livelihoods.
Read more at BBC News here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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