Russian accused of massive data theft extradited to US

A Russian hacker accused of helping pull off the biggest theft yet of consumer bank data in the United States has been extradited to the U.S. to face charges, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Russian national Andrei Tyurin was arrested by Georgian authorities to face charges he helped steal personal data of more than 80 million JP Morgan Chase customers in a massive hacking scheme uncovered by federal prosecutors three years ago, according to the Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman. Tyurin is alleged to have participated in a global hacking ring that ran illegal Internet casinos and payment processors and targeted the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and brokers such as E-Trade and Scottrade.

Phone calls to Tyurin's attorney were not immediately returned.

In an indictment unsealed Friday, Tyurin, 35, is charged with ten counts of conspiracy to commit computer hacking, securities fraud, illegal internet gambling, and wire and bank fraud, the latter which carries a maximum prison term of 30 years. He follows several others accused of participating in the sprawling hacking enterprise.

"As Americans increasingly turn to online banking, theft of online personal information can cause devastating effects on their financial wellbeing, sometimes taking years to recover," said U.S. prosecutor Berman. "Today's extradition marks a significant milestone for law enforcement in the fight against cyber intrusions targeting our critical financial institutions."

Federal prosecutors have previously named several alleged co-conspirators, including Israeli Gery Shalon and U.S. citizen Joshua Samuel Aaron.