How the Feds Caught Russian Mega-Carder Roman Seleznev by Norman Barbosa and Harold Chun.
From the webpage:
How did the Feds catch the notorious Russian computer hacker Roman Seleznev – the person responsible for over 400 point of sale hacks and at least $169 million in credit card fraud? What challenges did the government face piecing together the international trail of electronic evidence that he left? How was Seleznev located and ultimately arrested?
This presentation will review the investigation that will include a summary of the electronic evidence that was collected and the methods used to collect that evidence. The team that convicted Seleznev will show how that evidence of user attribution was used to finger Seleznev as the hacker and infamous credit card broker behind the online nics nCuX, Track2, Bulba and 2Pac.
The presentation will also discuss efforts to locate Seleznev, a Russian national, and apprehend him while he vacationed in the Maldives. The presentation will also cover the August 2016 federal jury trial with a focus on computer forensic issues, including how prosecutors used Microsoft Windows artifacts to successfully combat Seleznev’s trial defense.
If you want to improve your opsec, study hackers who have been caught.
Formally it’s called avoiding survivorship bias. Survivorship bias – lessons from World War Two aircraft by Nick Ingram.
Abraham Wald was tasked with deciding where to add extra armour to improve the survival of airplanes in combat. Abraham Wald and the Missing Bullet Holes (An excerpt from How Not To Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg).
It’s a great story and one you should remember.