All language subtitles for cyberwar.s01e14.720p.hdtv.x264-w4f_Track02

BEN: A Russian cyber gang
robs western banks.

They would go for the $100,000
or $1,000,000 wire transfers.

Their malware shows
links to Putin's government.

When I saw the commands
and the comments,

I knew that it was something
different from the rest.

Do criminal hackers help
Russia spy on its enemies?

And what does this say about
the country's hacking scene?

They think to hack Americans is
like a heroic thing for them.

♪

Over the past few years,
I've reported for VICE

from inside Russia, and
I've witnessed firsthand

the authoritarian power of
the Vladimir Putin regime.

I've also learned that hackers
at intelligence agencies,

like the FSB, Russia's
State Security Service,

have a murky relationship.

The country's hackers make
headlines around the world

for thefts and politically
motivated cyber-attacks.

Just ask Hilary Clinton and the
Democratic National Committee.

But how strong is the
collaboration between

cyber criminals
and Russian spooks?

I'm in Pittsburg, where
a little-known FBI office

specializes in
cybercrime investigations.

This is the spot
where the Feds disrupted

one of the most sophisticated
and lucrative malware schemes

ever discovered.

"Gameover ZeuS" infected
over a million computers,

creating a network, or
Botnet, that spanned the globe.

Those infected computers helped
hackers rob more than 150 banks

around the world, stealing
more than $100 million from

US banks alone, and in such
a way that was hard to trace.

And Cryptolocker, a
ransomware program installed

by Gameover ZeuS, shut hundreds
of thousands of users out of

their own computers until they
paid to have them unlocked.

After taking down the
Botnet, the FBI identified

the mastermind as a Russian
suspect named Evgeniy Bogachev,

and made him number one on their
Most Wanted Cyber Criminal List.

Scott Smith was the
Special Agent who led

FBI Pittsburgh.

And who was it targeting
specifically, Gameover ZeuS?

It was mostly targeting
the banking industry,

or payrolls, larger businesses.

It was trying to get
the banking credentials,

passwords, and get in and do
large-scale wire transfers.

They generally were not
looking for some of the

individual private accounts
for $1,000 or $2,000.

It just wasn't what they...

They had so much access
to so much larger accounts,

they would go for the $100,000
or $1,000,000 wire transfers.

The FBI pinned Gameover ZeuS
on an organized group

based in Russian
dubbed the "Business Club".

And at the head of it
was a mysterious character

named Evgeniy Bogachev,
AKA Slavik.

So who is the Business Club?

Business Club is a pretty
close-net organization.

Each person headed
their specialty,

or area of responsibility.

You know, those that would
work on the infrastructure,

those that would supply
the mules that would take out

the money, those that would
create the accounts that would

sweep the funds to, those that
have more technical abilities

to tweak the malware and
direct it and put it out.

And we know that there is

a certain character
at the centre of it...

BOTH: Bogachev.

Yeah, Bogachev.

So you're pretty
familiar with this guy?

Yeah, he was the...
in a sense, the head.

He had both the technical skills
and the criminal background

to bring together
the organization,

to tie it together,
to make it profitable.

You know, he actually
has a $3,000,000 reward

for the apprehension
and prosecution.

So that's the largest
for a cybercriminal ever.

That entices a lot
of different people

to help us out with
his apprehension.

How has the Russian government
cooperated with your office,

with the FBI, with
respect to Bogachev

and some of these
cyber criminals?

Have they been easy
to work with, or...?

I'm sure they know who he is,
and to the extent they would

help us, that's more of a...
sometimes political question

than it is a FBI law
enforcement question.

But if there's anything
I know about Russia,

it's that the
extradition of their own,

especially to the good old
US of A, is unthinkable.

But there may be another
reason that the indicted hacker,

Bogachev, feels
protected in Russia.

After looking at Gameover ZeuS,

a Dutch security company
called Fox-IT discovered that

the malware had been retooled
with an espionage component.

The targets, which
included foreign ministries

and intelligence agencies, were
written right into the code.

And they were all in the
wheelhouse of the FSB,

Russia's security and intel
agency that's the successor

to the KGB.

When I saw the
commands and the comments,

I knew that it was something
different from the rest.

Started researching it,
and you know, quite quickly

figured out what it was.

This is Michael Sandee.

He's a financial malware
expert who's been tracking

Gameover ZeuS and obsessing
over Bogachev for years.

So what about that?

There was a surveillance
aspect to Gameover ZeuS.

So it wasn't just
stealing money,

it was also espionage
against very specific targets.

The most obvious ones
were Turkey and Georgia,

and later when the...

you know, the more recent
Ukrainian conflict started,

they started to
target Ukraine as well.

There were actual specific
names of government employees

that were listed in
their search commands.

But would you say that
the evidence suggests that,

in some way, some possible
Russian agent with the FSB,

or some of their state
intelligence services,

slipped some names or some
search terms to Bogachev

to insert into Gameover ZeuS?

Yeah, that is a
very good possibility.

Like it was just a large
amount of commands in there.

You know, when you
see them all together,

you know well, this is
not just, you know...

he himself just thinking up,
you know, search terms.

This is something that was
given to him, obviously.

There's a $3,000,000
bounty on Bogachev

from the US government;
that's a lot of money.

It is.

But nobody's found
him, in the world.

So what's... what's with that?

Why hasn't anybody found him,

and why hasn't he
been apprehended?

Yeah, it's a good question.

Obviously I also don't
know, because if I knew,

then you know, I
would be cashing in

that $3,000,000 obviously.

But you know, a number of
things could have happened.

Maybe he is now full-time
working for the government,

or he has really
disappeared somewhere.

It's really difficult to say.

With a multi-million
dollar bounty on his head,

Bogachev is going to be
a tough guy to track down.

But even if it is next to
impossible to meet the legendary

Slavik, I want to get on the
ground with Russian hackers

to see the scene for myself.

BEN: I'm in Moscow,
trying to learn more

about the links between
Russian black hat hackers

and the country's spy agencies.

I'm looking into the case of
an infamous Russian hacker

named Evgeniy Bogachev.

He's the FBI's number one
Most Wanted Cyber Criminal,

but rumour has it he's
under the protection

of Putin's government,
and that makes sense.

Turns out the malware
Bogachev used to rob banks

also contains
surveillance software

serving the country's
geopolitical interests.

Andrey Soshnikov is a
BBC reporter in Moscow.

He became known for
exposing Russia's troll farms,

which spread pro-Russian and
anti-American propaganda

around the world.

I asked him about the
hacking scene in Russia,

and how Bogachev fits into it.

Bogachev is a legend, of course.

Still number one
on the FBI list.

I know his fans.

Some of my people I know,
they pray for Bogachev.

And why is he such
a legend in Russia?

A bright mind.

He has such a-- he's so clever.

They think to hack Americans is
like a heroic thing for them.

America is our former enemy,

and it's our kind
of enemy nowadays.

Americans use their
infrastructure to monopolize

internet, and some day
they can use it against us.

So hacking them, it shows
them that we are stronger,

that we have the best minds.

Is the Russian government
interested in bringing

Bogachev to justice,
like to jail?

No, absolutely not.

- No?
- No, absolutely not.

Because they receive no
punishment for hacking

out of the country.

So then how do some of
these people get into

the black market and work
for criminal syndicates?

It's not the black market.

You can call it black market;
it's just a free market.

There's no security service
trying to put this down.

They use it themselves because

they can't afford to
use hackers full-time.

So they just can hire them.

Speaking to
ordinary people like me,

I can use this black
market too, if I need.

I can just connect to one
website, and I can hire

any expert I need
in this cyber fraud,

hacker, everything I need.

Russia may have some of the
world's most notorious hackers,

but it's also home
to some of the world's

best security researchers.

I'm at the headquarters of the
Russian cyber security giant,

Kaspersky.

It's a private company,
but it frequently works with

Russian law enforcement in
cybercrime investigations.

Looks like a
government command centre.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(Laughing)

So we have three
rooms like this in Moscow,

Seattle, and Beijing.

And is this all just code?

Yes, it's machine code, machine
code of one of the most known,

the ZeuS.

- ZeuS, right.
- ZeuS malware, yeah.

This is the larger-than-life
big boss of Kaspersky,

Eugene Kaspersky.

He's known for
throwing epic parties

and as a pioneer
of anti-malware.

Some people, they
collect post stamps...

(Laughing)
Butterflies.

So I was... I was collecting
computer viruses as a hobby,

and then my hobby
slowly became my job.

But now you say that the
best hackers in the world

are in Russia.

Unfortunately, yes.

Well, we estimate that
now there are about a dozen

Russian-speaking criminal
gangs, cybercriminal gangs,

which are very professional

and they're quite
a serious problem.

And Kaspersky,
as I understand it,

is tracking some
of these groups.

Yes, of course.

It's a company mission
to save the world,

to save the cyber world.

Why is it so hard to
catch people like Bogachev,

who are these, you
know, brilliant hackers?

In some cases, they
are really professional,

so they can stay in the shadow
for a long, long time.

And for example, they don't
attack victims on the territory

of their own country, so
the local law enforcement,

they don't have the...

the permission to
start the criminal case.

Simply because there
was no, zero victims

on territory of Russia.

With no victims inside the
country, Bogachev and his group

may not have to worry about
the Russian authorities,

but he's still the FBI's
Most Wanted Cyber Criminal.

I'm in Las Vegas to meet an
expert on Russian cyber gangs.

He made a name for himself
by trolling the dark web and

revealing the inner workings
of several major crime rings.

As you can imagine,
Brian Krebs has also managed

to piss off said rings.

One hacker tried
to get even with him

by sending a gram of
high-grade heroin to his house,

and then phoning in
a tip to the cops.

One thing I wanted to ask
you about, because you said

the Russian government
condones hacking or hackers;

what do you know about
kind of the connections

between Russian intel
and hiring freelancers?

What's the relationship there?

I've long suspected that
some of the longest running

Russian hacker forums are
actually run by the FSB.

Really?

I'm sure, because they have
to know who these people are.

And... And when they
become useful for some reason,

their government's not shy
about making that desire known.

Some of the guys that I've
been able to track down,

a lot of these guys kind of
romanticize the way

the Soviet Union was, and they
sort of want that to be...

they want Russia to
be a superpower again.

They want Russia to be
somebody to be reckoned with.

BEN: Which brings me to
another character: Bogachev.

BRIAN: He's a really
interesting guy.

He's an interesting guy, 'cause
one thing that we've seen in

Gameover ZeuS, there was
actual surveillance information,

or surveillance tools,
inside of his code.

He was trying to gather
stuff on Turkey, and FSA,

and Georgia, and Ukraine.

Why would he have done that?

This is a guy who's been
only interested in money

for this many years.

You know, I mean, you increase
your usefulness if you have that

kind of access, so... and a guy
like that would need protection.

Oh yeah, the FBI is
very interested still.

He's probably not able
to leave Russia... ever.

(Laughing)

I mean, if he does, you know,

there's a good chance
he'll get picked up.

BEN: I reached out to all
of my sources and followed

every lead, but I haven't been
able to arrange a meeting

with the notorious hacker,
Evgeniy Bogachev.

I heard he was living
large in southern Russia,

under the protection
of Russian intel.

In fact, there was a rumour
he even got plastic surgery

to avoid being recognized.

Bogachev or not, I wanted to see

this Russian cyber-criminal
underworld for myself.

So I'm meeting with a famous
hacker here in Russia named NSD.

He's a pretty
interesting character,

'cause our local producer,
Dima, said he wanted VICE

to buy shares in his
new Russian company,

and he was also concerned that
the cameras that we're using

would give him radiation.

So this is gonna be
pretty interesting.

♪

Hello.

Nice to meet you.

Oleg Tolstykh, AKA NSD,
isn't of Middle Eastern descent,

and dresses in the style
of a Gulf Sheik because

"it feels good,"
as he said to me.

He was once a notorious hacker,

rumoured to be involved in
carding and bank theft.

But after he appeared in
an infamous YouTube video,

living the Russian hacker
life, he supposedly went legit.

Now, he claims to run a
public software company

that's listed on the
Moscow Stock Exchange.

So I did see a video
of you before this.

Do you know what video
I'm talking about?

So when you were younger,
you were described as

a computer genius.

Was it tough though, when you
were younger, to make money?

So I know you don't want
to talk about the dark side

of the world of
Russian hackers,

but I'm going to be
here for a few more days.

Do you have any advice for me

on how I can better
report on that world?

Do you think any of
them would talk to me?

- I think no.
- Why not?

Uh... uh...

Oleg gave me a true taste
of just how freaky and shadowy

the Russian hacking world is.

But I needed more, and got the
name of another supposed hacker

with a colourful past.

Warning: Things are
about to get even weirder.

Meet a self-described
hacker who calls himself "Nc".

I found him in a typical-looking
Soviet-era apartment block.

Holy shit!

[Bleep].

It's just - He's even
got the weird TV going off

in the corner for no reason.

Very cool room.

So, what do you hack?

So what have you hacked,
stolen and sold?

Why are you, why
are you stealing--

(Chuckling)

TRANSLATOR: He just got
like, you know, literally...

- Hmm?
- No, I'm okay.

Are you... Are you
hacking VICE right now?

Oh, that's weird.

This got real in a hurry.

That's not gonna happen.

I'm not giving him anything.

You say you have
customers or clients?

Are any of those...
you know, the FSB?

The Russian government?

Just like a
scene out of Hackers,

and he would never
answer a question,

and said, "Everything is
open, but I hack things."

That was...

That was --- insane.

BEN: Here in Moscow, finding
a hacker who would talk openly

about their relationship
with Russian intel

was near impossible, until
we prowled a local hacker bar

and met up with a woman
who calls herself "Eas7".

She's a known hacker and once
worked on industrial espionage

for the FSB.

And is it a regular thing
for FSB to approach hackers,

cyber criminals,
to do work for them?

Is that something that
happens all the time in Russia?

Have you ever worked with
anybody who could be classified

as a "cybercriminal", somebody
who works in, you know, groups

that will hack things for
money or for illegal purposes?

Yes.
(Laughing)

Is there a kind of unwritten
rule that hackers in Russia

don't hack Russian institutions?

Those industrial espionage
targets you were targeting,

were they American companies?

So, according to Eas7, the
Russian government hires

freelancers to do some of
its dirty work, and many of

those same hackers are involved
in criminal activities.

Russian authorities don't
seem to care much about

their citins hacking
foreign targets,

and those hackers may even be
protected when they prove to be

useful in other ways.

That might explain why it's
so hard to find Bogachev,

and why it's so hard to
attribute any attacks

that come out of Russia.

US intelligence officials,
for example, are confident

that the Democratic
National Committee hack

was directed by
the Russian government.

But that doesn't necessarily
mean Putin's hackers

were the ones actually
responsible for it.

Maybe this is an arrangement
that suits the Putin regime?

The government gets a steady
stream of hacking talent that

can act outside of the
bounds of International Law...

and Russian officials also
get plausible deniability

for the attacks that ultimately
serve their interests.

♪