Threat Management, Malware

Gozi virus co-author pleads guilty in federal court

Saying he knew what he was doing was against the law, a Latvian man pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to commit computer intrusion for his role in authoring and distributing the Gozi virus.

Prosecutors said Deniss Calovskis used the alias “Miami” and co-authored the Gozi code to make it more effective by altering the appearances of bank websites to trick customers into giving their information, according to Reuters. The banking trojan infected more than a million computers worldwide and accounted for losses in the tens of millions of dollars.

Calovskis was extradited in February to the United States from Latvia where he had been arrested in November 2012.

As part of the deal, Calovskis cannot appeal any sentence of two years or less. He might receive credit for time spent in custody at his scheduled Dec. 14 sentencing. 

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