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FBI Arrests One Of America’s Most Wanted Cybercriminals

The feds got their hands on one of the most wanted cybercriminals ever.
Image: Felix Lipov/Shutterstock

After months dodging the law in Russia, one of the FBI's most wanted hackers ever, allegedly responsible for stealing the personal info of more than 83 million JP Morgan customers, is finally in the custody of American authorities.

On Wednesday, the US government announced that Joshua Aaron, who is accused of being part of a gang that attacked JP Morgan and many other targets in the past few years, was arrested upon his arrival at the JFK airport in New York.

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Read more: The FBI Hacked Over 8,000 Computers In 120 Countries Based on One Warrant

Aaron, 32, was living as a fugitive in Russia after the US government charged him with hacking crimes in 2015. Aaron, along with Gery Shalon and Ziv Orenstein, were accused of attacking several major US companies and stealing the personal information of more than 100 million people.

"Aaron allegedly worked to hack into the networks of dozens of American companies, ultimately leading to the largest theft of personal information from US financial institutions ever," Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara was quoted as saying in a press release. "For pursuing what we have called 'hacking as a business model,' and thanks to the efforts of the FBI and the US Secret Service, Aaron will now join his co-defendants to face justice in a Manhattan federal courtroom."

Aaron and his two alleged co-conspirators may have worked for someone else, an unknown Russian hacker who might still be on the loose, according to Bloomberg.

Shalon and Orenstein were extradited from Israel in June of this year and Aaron is scheduled to appear in a Manhattan court on Thursday.

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