MOSCOW, July 26 - RAPSI. Russian citizen Dmitry Zubakha, who is accused of having run DDoS attacks in 2008 on various website servers, including that of the world's largest online shop Amazon.com, is an employee of Russian company Ashmanov and Partners, company head Igor Ashmanov told RIA Novosti.
Zubakha was detained on July 18 in Cyprus at the request of Interpol.
"He started working here in January," Ashmanov told RIA Novosti. He said that the company's security service had checked Zubakha's background before offering him a job.
The Russian Justice Ministry's website states that the indictment containing the charges against the Russian citizen were not made publically available right up until his arrest.This was why the security service found nothing suspicious in Dmitry Zubakha's history, said Ashmanov.
"Dmitry Zubakha, 25, was detained at the Pathos International Airport on July 18 after arriving from Russia," a Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Cyprus told RIA Novosti on Friday. "Interpol issued an international warrant for him at the request of the United States. Zubakha, however, contested his possible extradition to the United States in court. The court then placed him into 40-day custody."
He said the next hearing will be held on August 28.
Before the hearing, the United States will be preparing a set of documents for his extradition.
The U.S. authorities believe Zubakha and his accomplice Sergei Logashov blocked Amazon.Com on a number of occasions during June 2008, and also stole confidential data from 28,000 accounts in October 2009.
Charges were brought by the U.S. authorities against the hackers in May 2011. However, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington Jenny A. Durkan only spoke publically of these charges on Thursday - the day after Zubakha's detention. The hackers could be sentenced to 12 years in prison in the United States and a $250,000 fine.
Logashov has not yet been detained.
Ashmanov and Partners is one of the largest Internet marketing companies on the Russian market.
