A Russian hacker was arrested last week in Cyprus on an international warrant for a 2008 denial-of-service attack on Amazon.com.
Dmitry Zubakha is alleged to have used botnets, or a Web of connected computers, to conduct two attacks on Amazon, according to a Department of Justice statement. Zubakha and a co-conspirator allegedly used botnets to request access to resource-intensive Web pages, disrupting customers’ ability to access Amazon for hours.
Zubakha, recently indicted in the Western District of Washington State, was charged with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage without authorization to a protected computer. He was also charged with two counts of intentionally causing damage to a protected computer resulting in a loss of more than $5,000. Zubakha and a co-conspirator claimed credit for the attacks in hacker forums, according to the statement.
Zubakha is also charged with possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices as well as aggravated identity theft for a separate incident involving the possession of stolen credit card numbers in 2009.
Law enforcement traced the possession of more than 28,000 stolen credit card numbers in 2009 to Zubakha and his co-conspirator. Zubakha is charged with aggravated identity theft for illegally using the credit card of a Washington State resident.
The U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, and the Seattle Police Department worked on the apprehension. The Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division provided substantial assistance.
The U.S. is seeking to extradite Zubakha from Cyprus.
