Head of Russian Cybercrime Group Mario Kart Sentenced for Locking Out Dozens of U.S. Businesses

A federal court sentenced Russian national Illya Angelov for operating the "Mario Kart" botnet (2017–2021), which sent roughly 700,000 spam emails per day, infected about 3,000 computers daily, and sold backdoor access to ransomware groups—victimizing 72 companies across 31 U.S. states; Angelov pleaded guilty, received a reduced 61-month sentence with fines and a money judgment, and the case highlights DOJ efforts targeting access brokers and botnet operators that fuel the ransomware economy.