Russian hacker Vladimir Drinkman pleads guilty in New Jersey court

A Russian man has pleaded guilty in a USA court to taking part in a computer hacking scheme involving the theft and sale of 160 million credit and debit card numbers.

Despite being in USA custody, Smilyanets has managed to set up an online webpage that takes bitcoin donations for what he says is a defense fund for his legal expenses.

“Defendants like Vladimir Drinkman, who have the skills to break into our computer networks and the inclination to do so, pose a cutting edge threat to our economic well-being, our privacy and our national security”, said Fishman.

Three other Russian nationals and a Ukrainian are also charged in the case.

A number of corporations have been invaded, however the largest goal was Heartland Cost Techniques Inc., a Princeton-based firm that processes bank cards for small and medium-sized companies.

Vladimir Drinkman, 34, admitted to conspiring to illegally access computers and conspiring to commit wire fraud before Chief Judge Jerome Simandle of the federal district court in Camden, New Jersey, federal prosecutors said. His sentencing will be decided on 15 January, 2016, reports said.

Drinkman was one of five hackers involved the scam that used SQL injection attacks to infiltrate networks and place malware to create a backdoor for the hackers to maintain access to the systems.

Drinkman, who is from Syktyvkar, Russia, and Moscow, was arrested in the Netherlands in 2012, then extradited to the US the next year.

The stolen data was encoded onto the magnetic strip of a blank plastic card and the user withdrew money from ATMs or made purchases with the cards, authorities said.

Smilyanets’ attorney insists his client is innocent, and has said publicly that the details of the case will someday become a blockbuster story after the trial is over.

Over the course of the conspiracy, the defendants allegedly communicated through private and encrypted communications channels to avoid detection. The defendants also allegedly worked to evade existing protections by security software.

Drinkman was accused of working with four other defendants as far back as 2003 to install malware designed to steal data from computer networks of financial companies, payment processors and retailers.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry specifically cited the case of Drinkman in a warning to Russian citizens, saying they could be detained or arrested by USA law enforcement or intelligence agencies.