The FBI added five names to its “Cyber’s Most Wanted” list this week. They include two Pakistani men accused of hacking business telephones; a Russian hacker and two men involved in pernicious software; Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara, who developed spyware that people suspicious their lover was cheating could use to intercept their email and track what websites they visited; and Syrian national Andrey Nabilevich Taame, who was involved in “Operation Ghost Click,” malware that the FBI says compromised more than 4 million computers worldwide.Not only does the Cyber’s Most Wanted list lack the storied six decades history of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, its paydays for informants are lower. The Ten Most list starts at a cold $100,000, while the cyber variety wanted tops out there. It’s hard to shake the feeling that is the bush-league most wanted list.That feeling is really reinforced by the fact that cyber-criminals don’t get their scars or marks listed on the most wanted list, although that could be because a life of cyber-crime doesn’t carry quite the same dermatological risks. Or because of the relative youth of the fugitives on the list.Cyber-criminals also don’t seem to put a lot of work into their crime names. The nature of their crimes—creating false error messages, or sneaky software—doesn’t need a human face, so maybe they just didn’t bother. But the FBI only lists screen names for two out of the top 10: Peteris Sahurovs, who has been known by the handles "PIOTREK," PIOTREK89" and "SAGADE," and new addition Alexsey Belan, who has gone by “Fedyunya,” “Magg” and “Moy.Yawik.”Apart from their screen names, the cyber-list aliases are pretty much the least imaginative variations of their own names. I mean, what’s even the point in telling us that Carlos Enrique Perez-Melara might be going by Carlos E. Perez Melara? Or that Farhan Ul Arshad might be found under the name Farhan Arshad or Farhan Ul?Compare that to traditional top 10 murderer and robber Jason Derek Brown. Not only does his summary paint a picture of a one-time Mormon missionary turned Francophonic armored car robber, he might be hiding out under the name “Greg Harline Johnson.”The only cybercriminal who ever comes close is Artem Semenov. He’s part of an Eastern European cyber crime ring, and a known gambler who may be found around a poker game or in Vegas. He at least has the decency to go by “Fred Teschemacher,” or “Nicholas Congleton.”To be fair, sometimes the crimes they perpetrate carry some nominal appeal—“Operation Ghost Click” is pretty cool, and Perez-Melara’s spyware was called “Loverspy.” The AP pointed out that Perez-Melara doesn’t appear to have made much money with “Loverspy.” He sold it to about 1,000 other people who tricked 2,000 others into uploading the software. It’s not really clear if any of that information made it back to Perez-Melara.It’s a far cry from the pinnacle of criminal nicknames, which, if it isn’t 1930s bank robbers, it’s got to be jewel thieves. Joshua Davis wrote maybe the best longform piece on heists ever for Wired in 2009, which centered on a gang comprising “The Monster,” “The Genius,” and the “King of Keys.” That’s how you have a jewel heist.Anyway, if you’re in an internet cafe of some ill-repute, keep your eyes and more importantly your ears open. It sounds like they’ll pretty much announce themselves.
Advertisement