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A Boston-based computer specialist who was linked to the Kremlin was accused by Boston federal prosecutors of hacking the systems used by public companies to file quarterly earnings reports under the guidance of a million-dollar profit ring.
Authorities accused Vladislav Klyushin and four others of gathering material that was not public information about the company’s performance forecasts and trade, ahead of the news. Another accused, Ivan Ermakov, a 35-year-old Klyushin employee, a former Russian military intelligence officer, was previously charged with hacking and alleged influence in connection with the 2016 presidential election, according to the US.
Klyushin, a 41-year-old from Moscow, was extradited from the United States by Switzerland on December 18, prosecutors said. The other four defendants remain at large. Prior to announcing the allegations, Oliver Ciric Klyushin’s lawyer said his client uses the accusations as an excuse for the political motivation of US intelligence to obtain confidential information from his client in Russia.
According to an affidavit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the defendants allegedly hacked two U.S. agent files to gain access to drafts of press releases on the profits of various public trading companies, including International Business Machines Corp., Snap Inc., Tesla Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Horizon Therapeutics Plc.
Defendants used information obtained through hacking to disclose positive economic results for the purchase of corporate shares, and the companies summarized them before reporting negative results, according to the US. and the USA
Both file agents have no names. One of the multiple Interactive Brokers accounts used in the transaction was “traded prior to the earnings forecasts of approximately 149 companies, which had a success rate of 66%,” according to the affidavit. The account earned $ 4.6 million, according to the affidavit.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
Russian state contracts show that a company affiliated with M-13, Klyushin, has provided the Ministry of Defense with a media monitoring system, as well as services to the National Guard, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Moscow city government. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Vedomosti newspaper that in 2016 the presidential administration had used the M-13 to control social media.
Defendant Klyushin, Ermakov and Nikolai Rumiantcev were listed as M-13 employees, according to a Moscow-based IT company, according to the affidavit.
The M-13 provided cybersecurity services to Russian government agencies and also provided “intrusion testing” services that simulated hacking attempts, according to the U.S. The company said it could emulate Persistent Threats, a term often used to describe state-protected hackers. Klyushin was the first deputy director general of the M-13, according to the affidavit.
The company also offered “investment management services” for 60% of its profits, according to prosecutors. Two of the defendants allegedly discussed the profits on behalf of the two men, according to the affidavit.
“Boris earned $ 989,000 out of $ 500,000,” Klyushin told Ermakov in an online chat, according to the affidavit. “Sasha for $ 693,000 million [smile]. They don’t ask why anymore. ‘
In another exchange, Klyushin and Ermakov allegedly discussed buying a property in Moscow.
“The apartment is nice,” Klyushin wrote. [it]”.
“It’s not necessary,” Ermakov said. “It simply came to our notice then [three smiles]”.
Proofpoint Inc., Box Inc., Nanometrics Inc. and Getty Realty Corp., according to the U.S.
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