Evginey Mikhailovich Bogachev, 33, and Aleksey Alekseyevich Belan, 29, are said to have made millions by selling financial information they obtained in hacks.
Both have been wanted by the FBI for years, but have not been brought to justice because they both live in Russia, which doesn't have a extradition agreement with the U.S. and is usually ambivalent to aiding American law enforcement.
It's uncertain whether the sanctions will even effect the two. The president's sanctions will include a travel ban and freezing U.S.-based bank accounts for those named in the executive order. But both Bogachev and Belan are unlikely to travel to the U.S. in the first place, since they are already wanted criminals. And it's unclear whether they have any U.S.-based bank accounts.
Last year, the FBI announced that it was offering a $3million reward for information leading to Bogachev's arrest - the most the agency had ever offered for a single cyber-attacker.
Bogachev is said to be the hacker behind the malware called GameOver Zeus, which infected more than a million computers and caused the financial loss of more than $100million.
Computer users were tricked into downloading the malware which then stole financial information off the device like bank account numbers, passwords, PIN numbers and other information to steal money from victims. He is also believed to be behind a different program called 'ransomware' that would freeze a victim's computer files and threaten to delete them unless a ransom was paid.
U.S. financial institutions, Fortune 500 firms, universities and government agencies are among the victims of Bogachev's schemes, the White House said.
For these attacks, Bogachev faces several charges in federal court including conspiracy, wire, bank and computer fraud and money laundering.
Belan, meanwhile, as a $100,000 bounty from the FBI for a different set of hacks. Authorities say that Belan hacked three major American e-commerce companies to steal financial information from their customers which he then sold to other criminals online.
The companies are not named, but he faces charges connected to the hacks in Nevada and California courts. It's also unclear just how much Belan profited from the illegal scheme. He faces charges including fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In 2014, residents in Bogachev's hometown of Anapa praised his hacks that targeted the U.S.
'What a talented guy,' a 23-year-old man named Mikhail - who said he recognized Bogachev - told the Telegraph. 'Sitting at his computer at home, he broke into our enemies' camp, but did not harm his fellow Russians.'
'What a great dude,' Vazgen Atanasov, a taxi driver, added to the newspaper. 'Judging by what Americans do to other people, what Bogachev is said to have done to them serves them right.'
(Daily Mail)
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