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Alexey Ivanov and Vasiliy Gorshkov: Russian Hacker Roulette

Russian hacker Alexey Ivanov was lured to the United States and snared in a high-stakes cyber-sting.

By Art Jahnke

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Rueckert agrees that a plea was a good choice for his client, even if it did leave unresolved some important issues of privacy, cyberlaw and the modus operandi of law enforcement. "Number one," he says, "is about the way the government got data from CTS. The issue there is the individual's expectation of privacy concerning data that is stored remotely. What process should the government have to obtain access to this kind of data? Secondly, should the government be required to obtain a search warrant, and should the defendant be given legal protections? What kind of notice should the government give? There is also the issue of the method the government used to [ensnare Ivanov]. I think that the method they used offended a lot of people outside the United States. All of these issues are important."

As significant as those legal issues are, Rueckert admits that for him, the most captivating aspects of cybercrime are psychological. "The thing that fascinated me here," he says, "was that in Internet crimes you can have a kid, basically, sitting in his basement halfway around the world, and with the click of a mouse, he can cause incredible concern, fear and economic damage all across the country. And the person who is doing it doesn't really see the results. It can be very easy for someone like that to view what they're doing as a game."

Alexey Ivanov doesn't disagree. Hacking was a challenge, and challenges are always fun. It was also, in a strange and roundabout way, a means to what Ivanov says is a happy ending.