Levin, Vladimir

A graduate of St. Petersburg Technology University in Russia, mathematician Vladimir Levin supposedly masterminded the Russian cracker gang’s exploit that tricked Citibank’s computers into relinquishing $10 million. Levin apparently used a laptop computer in London to crack the Citibank network in order to get a list of the bank clients’ passwords. He then logged on to the network 18 times over several weeks with the intent of transferring money to accounts his group had in the United States, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Israel. Levin was arrested at Heathrow Airport in 1995 and was sentenced to a three-year prison term in the United States. He was also ordered to pay back more than $240,000 of the stolen money to Citibank—supposedly his share.

After this incident, Citibank began using the dynamic encryption card, an extremely tight security system possessed by other financial institutions worldwide.

See Also: Black Hats; Cracking; Exploit; Network; Vulnerabilities of Computers.