Russian sentenced on charges of national computer hacking
A Russian national has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to computer hacking and other charges, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Calif., announced Thursday.
Aleksey Vladimirovich Ivanov was prosecuted by U.S. attorneys in California, Connecticut, New Jersey and Washington state.
Ivanov, 23, and others who operated from Russia hacked into dozens of computers throughout the United States, stealing user names, passwords, credit card information and other financial data, authorities said. He also was charged with extorting victims with the threat of deleting the data and destroying computer systems.
As he sentenced Ivanov, U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford described his "unprecedented, wide-ranging, organized criminal enterprise." Ivanov was responsible for the loss of $25 million, the judge said.
Ivanov was indicted in August 2001 in the Eastern District of California on 13 counts of conspiracy and computer intrusion involving an Internet services company.
