For Immediate Release
DHS Press Office
Contact: 202-282-8010
I congratulate the United States Secret Service for their fine work in bringing here to face justice alleged international cyber criminal Vladimir Drinkman. Yesterday, after extradition from the Netherlands, Drinkman was arraigned in United States District Court in Newark, New Jersey.
As the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, has explained, Drinkman is alleged to have operated a vast worldwide hacking and data breach scheme that targeted the networks of NASDAQ, Dow Jones, Global Payments, Heartland Payment Systems, J.C. Penny, Euronet Worldwide, Discover Financial Services, Visa-Jordan Card Services, and other U.S. and global corporations. These network intrusions resulted in the theft and distribution of sensitive financial data, including more than 160 million payment card numbers, which were used in identity theft schemes to cause financial losses exceeding $300 million.
This is the largest such scheme ever prosecuted in the United States, and the Secret Service is the lead investigative agency. Coming just days after our White House summit on cybersecurity last week at Stanford University, this successful extradition and arraignment highlights the talent and experience of the men and women of the Secret Service in combating cyber crime.
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