News: Aleksei Burkov, the Russian scammer whose extradition triggered a tense standoff between Putin and Netanyahu, was just sentenced to 9 years in a US prison.
The sentence includes time served, marking a win for the defense. From me + @snlyngaas.
cyberscoop.com/aleksei-burkov…
The sentence includes time served, marking a win for the defense. From me + @snlyngaas.
cyberscoop.com/aleksei-burkov…
Burkov pleaded guilty in January to running a carding forum that where $20 million in fraud went down, and a more "elite" site where Russian hackers pooled their resources and traded things like a database of 191 million records on Americans.
cyberscoop.com/aleksei-burkov…
cyberscoop.com/aleksei-burkov…
but the big thing about this case is that Russian cops arrested an Israeli woman with no connection to Burkov, and sentenced her to 7+ years in prison for supposedly carrying weed through Moscow.
At the time, US officials cited it as a troubling escalation from Moscow.
At the time, US officials cited it as a troubling escalation from Moscow.
Russian state media suggested a prisoner swap, and a "friend" of Burkov started harassing the family of the Israeli woman, Naama Issachar.
Putin pardoned her one week after Burkov pleaded guilty, effectively giving up (what a guy).
timesofisrael.com/backpacker-naa…
Putin pardoned her one week after Burkov pleaded guilty, effectively giving up (what a guy).
timesofisrael.com/backpacker-naa…
Totally unrelated: I am extremely curious about the table-setting that would have happened before Putin and Netanyahu walked VERY NATURALLY into a room like this together. nytimes.com/2019/10/12/wor… 
One of the biggest Q's about Burkov was/is the nature of that "elite" forum. The indictment details how info about 191 million Americans (names + emails, at least) was for sale there.
Others like @WendySiegelman & @VickerySec have chased this down, too.
Others like @WendySiegelman & @VickerySec have chased this down, too.
