March 18, 2024 at 06:45AM
Moldovan national Sandu Boris Diaconu, 31, has been sentenced to 42 months in prison in the US for operating the illicit E-Root Marketplace, selling more than 350,000 compromised credentials. The marketplace facilitated the sale of stolen information, offering buyers access to victim computers and facilitating ransomware attacks and stolen identity tax fraud schemes.
From the meeting notes, it is evident that Sandu Boris Diaconu, a Moldovan national, has been sentenced to 42 months in prison in the US for operating the illicit marketplace known as E-Root Marketplace. This marketplace facilitated the sale of hundreds of thousands of compromised credentials, including RDP and SSH access to victim computers. The marketplace operated across a distributed network and concealed the identity of administrators, sellers, and buyers, using an online payment system called Perfect Money.
The domain names of E-Root Marketplace were seized in 2020, along with an illicit cryptocurrency exchange service. The compromised credentials listed for sale included those of a local government agency in Tampa. Diaconu pleaded guilty after being arrested in the UK in May 2021 and was extradited to the US in October 2023. He was sentenced for “conspiracy to commit access device and computer fraud and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices”. He will serve 42 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release.
The illicit activities associated with E-Root Marketplace have had serious consequences, including victims being targeted in ransomware attacks and stolen identity tax fraud schemes.
It is also noted that similar cybercrime cases have resulted in individuals being sentenced to prison or supervised release in both the US and Canada, indicating the significance of combating cybercrime and the enforcement of penalties for individuals involved in such activities.