Sandu Diaconu, the operator of the E-Root marketplace, has been extradited to the U.S. to face a maximum imprisonment penalty of 20 years for selling access to compromised computers.
The Moldovan defendant was arrested in the U.K. in May 2021 while attempting to flee the country following the authorities’ seizure of E-Root’s domains in late 2020.
Last month, Diaconu consented to be extradited to the United States for wire fraud, money laundering, computer fraud, and access device fraud.
Apart from the imprisonment, the U.S. law enforcement authorities seek forfeiture of criminal proceeds Diaconu made through illegal activities, which are yet to be determined.
E-Root marketplace
E-Root was an illegal online marketplace that offered access to breached computers worldwide in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Evidence obtained during the investigation suggests that over 350,000 compromised systems were listed for sale on the market, including computers from a broad range of industries and at least one government system in Tampa.
Buyers were given filtered search tools to navigate the available offerings, using criteria such as price range, region, ISP, operating system, RDP or SSH access, and more.
E-Root operated across a widely distributed network for resilience and evasion and featured protections to mask the real identities of vendors, buyers, and administrators.
The market also operated a dedicated cryptocurrency exchange service that enabled users to convert between Bitcoin and Perfect Money, an otherwise legal encrypted electronic transactions service.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announcement says there have been many confirmations of access purchased through E-Root used for cybercrime activities, including ransomware attacks.
“Many victims were subject to ransomware attacks, and some of the stolen credentials listed on the Marketplace were linked to stolen identity tax fraud schemes,” stated the US Department of Justice.
Diaconu has not yet pleaded guilty to the charges outlined in the indictment and is presumed innocent until proven guilty.