The US is offering $3 million for information on this notorious Russian hacker

The US State Department, Department of Justice, and the FBI have announced a $3 million reward for information leading to the arrest of a Russian hacker. It's the highest bounty the US has ever placed on a cyber criminal.

Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, also known through his web aliases of "lucky12345" and "slavik," is wanted for his role as an administrator in a malicious software scheme that infected over one million computers.

"The software, known as 'Zeus' and 'GameOver Zeus,' enabled contributors to the scheme to steal banking information and empty the compromised accounts, resulting in the theft of more than $100 million from U.S. businesses and consumers," a State Department press release notes.

According to an FBI press release, Bogachev's malware was "extremely sophisticated." The malicious software either logged user's keystrokes for passwords and bank pins or redirected computer users to false pages where unsuspecting victims then entered their bank account information.

CNET reports that GameOver Zeus first appeared in 2011 as a modified form of the Zeus malware. Zeus had was first noticed in 2007 after it infected over 13 million computers and resulted in the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Bogachev has been in the crosshairs of the US government for almost three years. The FBI's wanted poster notes that the cyber criminal was first indicted under the name "lucky12435" by a federal grand jury in the District of Nebraska for, amongst other charges, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in 2012.

In 2014, Borgachev was indicted by name in a federal grand jury in the Western District of Pennsylvania on charges involving wire fraud and bank fraud.

Borgachev is believed to be living in Russia. Reuters reports that the Russian FSB, its internal security agency, has "expressed tentative interest in working with U.S. authorities on investigating cybercrimes." It is unclear if this cooperation will include Borgachev.

Borgachev is on the FBI's Cyber Most Wanted list.

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