Hacker behind Racoon Infostealer sentenced to 5 years in federal prison

An operator of the Racoon Infostealer malware, who previously faked his own death, was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion.

Mark Sokolovsky, a 28-year-old Ukrainian national, previously pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to operate Raccoon. The hacker was initially arrested by Dutch authorities in March 2022 and later extradited after being indicted for crimes related to fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

The Raccoon Infostealer is a malware-as-service with a $200 monthly price tag in cryptocurrency. It allows hackers to steal data from victims and has been attributed to hundreds of thousands of infections and the compromise of millions of user credentials.

Threat actors mostly relied on email phishing to trick victims into installing the malware on their computers. Raccoon Infostealer then stole log-in credentials, financial information, and other personal records to advance other financial crimes or to be sold on cybercrime forums.

“Sokolovsky’s infostealer was responsible for compromising more than 52 million user credentials, which were then used in furtherance of fraud, identity theft, and ransomware attacks on millions of victims worldwide,” said Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tapp for the FBI’s San Antonio field office.

“Mark Sokolovsky was a key player in an international criminal conspiracy that victimized countless individuals by administering malware which made it cheaper and easier for even amateurs to commit complex cybercrimes,” added US Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas.

According to the US Department of Justice, as part of his plea in October, Sokolovsky agreed to forfeit $23,975 and pay at least $910,844.61 in restitution.

Cybernews previously reported that Sokolovsky tried to avoid his fate and disappear with piles of cash by faking his own death, claiming to have been killed during the war between Russia and Ukraine.

However, instead of heading to the afterlife, Sokolovsky fled Ukraine at a time when men were prohibited from leaving the country to aid in its defense. The Racoon operator traveled through Europe in a Porsche Cayenne with his girlfriend and shared their experiences on social media, according to BlackBerry report.