Peter Levashov

Peter Levashov is a Russian spammer and virus creator. He is suspected by The Spamhaus Project of being one of the longest operating criminal spam-lords on the internet.

Peter Levashov
Петр Юрьевич Левашов
Born	Peter Yuryevich Levashov (1980-08-13) August 13, 1980 (age 42)^[1] Russia
Nationality	Russian
Other names	Petr Levashov, Peter Severa, Petr Severa, Sergey Astakhov^[2]
Occupation	Spammer
Known for	alleged operation of the Kelihos botnet

U.S. v. Levashov Indictment

Background

Levashov is known by Spamhaus for his involvement with many other Eastern European and U.S. based botnet spammers. He was a partner of American spammer Alan Ralsky.^[3] Peter Levashov was arrested by Spanish officials while in Barcelona, at the request of the United States Department of Justice.^[4] He is suspected by the United States of being the mastermind behind the Kelihos botnet and was extradited to the United States, arriving on 2 February 2018. Russia had filed a competing extradition request.^[5]

The case was U.S. v. Levashov, 17-mj-448, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut (Bridgeport).,^[6] assigned to Robert N. Chatigny, Senior United States District Judge in Hartford.^[7] Levashov pleaded not guilty to the charges.^[8] According to his lawyer, Petya [Pyotr] Levashov was detained in the Bridgeport, Connecticut prison until at least 5 February 2018.^[9] Levashov, who cooperated with the FBI during his imprisonment, was released in 2021 with his sentence reduced to time served (33 months.)^[10]

An affidavit unsealed on February 5, 2018, showed Apple’s unexpected role in bringing the Russian spam king to justice. Peter Levashov allegedly ran the Kelihos botnet under the alias “Severa,” renting out access to spammers and other cybercriminals. Despite Levashov’s significant efforts at anonymity, court records show that federal agents had been surveilling his iCloud account since May 20, 2016, funneling back crucial information that may have led to his arrest.^[11]

See also

• Kelihos botnet

References

1. "USA V. LEVASHOV". April 4, 2017. LEVASHOV is a Russian citizen, who resides in St. Petersburg, Russia and was born on August 13, 1980.
2. "USA V. Peter Levashov" (PDF). September 12, 2018. This letter confirms the plea agreement between your client, Peter Yuryevich Levashov, aka "Petr Levashov," aka "Peter Severa," aka "Petr Severa," aka "Sergey Astakhov" (the "defendant"), and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut (the "Government") in this criminal matter.
3. "The Top 10 Spammers". The Spamhaus Project. The Spamhaus Project. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
4. Kramer, Andrew. "Spain Arrests Russian Thought to Be Kingpin of Computer Spam". New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
5. "Russian Parliament member's son sentenced in hacking case". The Columbian. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
6. "Russian Spammer Claiming Kremlin Ties Is in U.S. Facing Feds". Bloomberg. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
7. "Alleged Operator of Kelihos Botnet Extradited From Spain". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
8. "Russian accused of running spam network extradited to US". Deutsche Welle. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
9. "Russian programmer charged with hacking in US says he's not guilty". CrimeRussia. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
10. "How A Convicted Russian Cybercriminal Made $6,000 A Month Helping The FBI". RFERL. December 22, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2022. In July, he ended up getting an unusually light sentence for a Russian cybercriminal convicted in the United States: time served, or just 33 months. That’s one of the lightest sentences among Russian-speaking hackers in recent years, according to a review of more than a dozen cases by RFE/RL, despite a nearly two-decade crime spree.
11. "Feds tracked down Russian spam kingpin with help from his iCloud account". The Verge. Retrieved 2018-02-06.