Published on: February 22, 2024
Mark Sokolovsky was extradited to the United States to face allegations of running the illegal malware-as-a-service known as Raccoon Infostealer. The 28-year-old Ukrainian national was transferred from the Netherlands after facing detainment since 2022, when he was caught by Dutch authorities. US and Italian law enforcement dismantled his website, leaving him with nothing but a set of cuffs and a court trial.
On top of selling Raccoon Infostealer malware for $200 per month, Sokolovsky participated in large-scale malware attacks himself. His standard method employed social engineering techniques to convince targets to install malware. Once caught, the Raccoon Infosteal would begin collecting victims’ personal information.
When he was caught, he was found to have over 50 million stolen unique credentials and forms of information from victims around the world. The data included credit card info, bank account credentials, cryptocurrency wallet keys, browser cookies, and autofill data.
The stolen information was used to commit fraud and other crimes or to be sold to other hackers around the world.
The alleged criminal “triple-dipped” his earnings. He made money by selling malware to criminals, stealing data from victims, and then selling the stolen data back to other criminals. The result was a lucrative life of crime before it was thankfully snuffed out by law enforcement agencies.
“Through various investigative steps, the FBI has collected data stolen from many computers that cybercriminals infected with Raccoon Infostealer,” writes the Department of Justice (DoJ) in its official release. “Including more than 50 million unique credentials and forms of identification. The United States does not believe it is in possession of all the data stolen by Raccoon Infostealer and continues to investigate.”
The FBI created a web portal that anyone can use for free to check if the Raccoon Infostealer malware obtained their data. If you believe your data may have been compromised, or you just want to double-check if it was, the FBI encourages people to use the site.
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