US justice charges woman for co-development of Trickbot

The US Department of Justice has sued a Latvian woman in Ohio for co-developing the Trickbot malware. The woman is said to have written code related to the control, deployment and payments of ransomware.

The woman also provided code that would allow the Trickbot group to track “authorized users” of the malware, according to the US Department of Justice. In addition, she is said to have developed tools and protocols to be able to store stolen login data. According to the indictment, the woman and the group began stealing money and information from victims via the Trickbot malware in 2015.

In the indictment, the ministry does not write how it found the woman. She was arrested on February 6 in Miami, Florida. She previously lived in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo. The woman is 55 years old.

Trickbot is ransomware that decrypts the computer after bitcoin payment. In addition, the software extracted data such as login details for banks and personal data in order to steal even more money. The group infected tens of millions of computers, the US Department writes, and managed to steal millions of dollars.

The woman has been charged with, among other things, computer fraud, identity theft and bank fraud. If found guilty, the woman could face up to 30 years in prison.