A Russian hacker arrested in 2014 has been handed the longest-ever prison time in the history of U.S for a crime of this nature. He is now facing a 27 Year jail time for his cyber-shenanigans.
Roman Seleznev aka Track2, the 32-year-old hacker was accused of hacking point-of-sale computers and according to several media outlets, he managed to steal around 1.7 Million credit card information from his vicious scheme. He was facing charges of wire fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft and all of them have been proven now.
As per reports, Roman caused at least 170 million USD in losses to several known U.S firms and one of the targeted firms which suffered a huge loss because of his shenanigans was none other than Broadway Grill- a firm which was closed in 2013 as a result of the losses.
The hacker- prosecuted in Seattle, is the son of a Russian parliamentarian Valery Seleznev who is now putting pressure on the U.S government to release Roman.
Valery Seleznev / Image Source: Washington Times
Roman was arrested in Maldives in 2014 and according to his father “Valery Selznev”, his arrest was “Illegal.”
The Russian embassy wrote in a Facebook post, “We continue to believe that the arrest of the Russian citizen Roman Seleznev who de facto was kidnapped on the territory of a third country is unlawful.”
Source: Facebook
Well, no comments on the arrest, but Mr. Roman himself admitted that he was wrong and accepted all the charges against him. He wrote in his letter, “Please understand I was a desperate child who grew into a desperate man. I want to repay for my wrongdoing and make things as right as humanly possible.”
Although Roman has admitted his wrong doings, this act didn’t affect the judge’s decision and he got the maximum sentence for his deeds! Once considered as the most revered point-of-sale hacker in the world, he is now going to spend 27 years of his life in prison.
U.S attorney Annette Hayes said, “Today is a bad day for hackers around the world… The notion that the Internet is a Wild West where anything goes is a thing of the past. As Mr. Seleznev has now learned, and others should take note—we are working closely with our law enforcement partners around the world to find, apprehend, and bring to justice those who use the internet to steal and destroy our peace of mind”.
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