Russian Hacker Extradited for Excel Malware Campaign Infecting Thousands

A Russian national was extradited to the U.S. and charged with orchestrating a malware campaign using fraudulent Excel attachments to infect 80,000 users, deploying TVRAT and DarkVNC malware for remote access and data theft. The attack exploited vulnerabilities in TeamViewer and Office macros, with victims primarily in the Northern District of California.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has charged a Russian national, extradited from Cyprus on August 28, with using roughly 255 fake accounts on a freelance platform to send malware-laced Excel attachments to about 80,000 of its users in 2016 and 2017.

Searzhudin Tamirlanovich Aktulaev, 40, was arrested in Cyprus in May 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

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