NBC News reports that the U.S. has agreed to release convicted Russian hackers Vladimir Klyushin and Roman Seleznev, along with eight others, in exchange for Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and other American political prisoners held by Russia.
Arrests of both Klyushin, who was involved in a hack-and-trade scheme against U.S. companies, and Seleznev, who was engaged in credit card attacks, were noted by retired veteran FBI Special Agent and CybelAngel Chief Information Security Officer Todd Carroll to have entailed significant challenges, exacerbated by disparate laws. "I don't want to undercut getting two U.S. citizens back that were wrongly held over there. I'm just not happy about the extremes we have to go to for this to be done," said Caroll. Such an exchange was also regarded by Institute for Security and Technology CEO Philip Reiner to be advantageous to Russia. "The amount that these actors are able to make goes back into an ecosystem where folks get paid and get paid off," Reiner said.
