Colombian law enforcement authorities have detained today international cybercriminal Mihai Ionut Paunescu, a Romanian-born international hacker sought for years by the US government for such charges as creating viruses, hacking, bank fraud, and wire fraud.
Paunescu would be one of the masterminds and the main supplier of “Gozi” malware virus, which would have stolen information from over one million computers, including from NASA.
This malicious software was sent in e-mails as an attached file that, when downloaded, infiltrated the computers of large companies and government entities, accessed privileged data such as bank passwords, numbers and identification documents; and intercepted and diverted money transfers, among other fraudulent actions.
According to the US State Department, this Trojan-type virus infected computers in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Finland, Italy, and Turkey. Some of the victims are multinationals, banks and organizations such as NASA.