Ukrainian Botnet Operator Sentenced to 4 Years in Florida for Selling Access to Compromised Computers

A court in Florida has sentenced a Ukrainian national to four years in prison for operating a botnet that hacked into computers and sold access credentials. The 28-year-old, Gleb Ivanov-Tolpintsev, will also forfeit $82,648 in illegally obtained funds as part of the court’s decision.

The FBI identified Ivanov-Tolpintsev as a wholesale seller during an investigation into the activities of a dark web marketplace. Originally from Chernivtsi, Ukraine, he was arrested in Poland in October 2020 and extradited to the United States a year later.

Three months ago, Ivanov-Tolpintsev pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to sell unauthorized access tools and computer passwords. According to court documents, he carried out large-scale brute-force attacks to compromise login credentials, which he then sold on the dark web. To automate these attacks, he used a botnet capable of hacking into 2,000 or more computers per week, according to his own estimates.

The FBI reported that between 2017 and 2019, Ivanov-Tolpintsev offered thousands of compromised server accounts for sale. These illegal transactions earned him approximately $80,000, which he is now required to surrender to U.S. authorities.