The hacker, a 32-year-old Russian national named Maksim Yakubets, "allegedly has engaged in a decade-long cyber crime spree that deployed two of the most damaging pieces of financial malware ever used and resulted in tens of millions of dollars of losses to victims worldwide," U.S. assistant attorney general Brian Benczkowski said in a press briefing.
Yakubets and his co-conspirators are alleged to have victimized 21 specific municipalities, banks, companies, and non-profit organizations in the U.S. states of California, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Washington, attempting to steal an estimated 220 million dollars, and succeeding in making away with 70 million dollars, according to a statement by the DoJ.
The reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Yakubets "represents the largest such reward offer for a cyber criminal to date," said the statement.
The DoJ also announced charges against a second Russian national, Igor Turashev, for distributing a "Bugat" malware that is designed to steal confidential personal and financial information.