A British court on Tuesday sentenced a prolific hacker to six years and five months in prison after he was convicted of blackmailing internet users worldwide, in a campaign linked to organised criminals in Russia and other countries.
Zain Qaiser, 24, was part of a “sophisticated organised crime group” that targeted visitors to pornographic websites with malicious browser-locking software, prosecutors said.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the London-based former university student had “worked with top-level cyber criminals based in Eastern Europe, who made huge profits from the distribution of ransomware.”
The BBC said Qaiser had contacted “the Russian controller of one of the most potent attack tools” and agreed to share profits.
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He also cooperated with cyber criminals in China and the U.S. to launder his earnings from blackmail, the broadcaster reported.
“Qaiser is a member of a prolific and technically sophisticated international criminal organisation that has terrorised internet users throughout the world,” said Russell Tyner of the CPS organised crime division.
“While he enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle on the proceeds, Qaiser subjected his victims to a prolonged and relentless campaign of blackmail, which caused them significant financial and emotional harm,” Tyner said.
Qaiser made more than 500,000 pounds (650,000 dollars) by targeting millions of computers with messages purporting to be from government agencies in their home countries between 2012 and 2014.
He threatened the victims with prosecution unless they paid “fines” to unlock their devices.
“In spite of not having committed a crime, many victims paid up out of embarrassment,” the CPS said.
